photo credit: Phillie Casablanca

Maybe your are at a cell phone store talking to a salesperson, when you find out that you can upgrade to a new phone and contract. You really just wanted to keep your existing contract, but that new iphone or Blackberry would be really amazing. What do you do when faced with a tough financial choice like this one? Do you make a quick decision, tell the salesperson you need to think about it, or call a frugal friend for advice? You might consider yourself frugal, but when faced with a choice, you sometimes like to splurge. You could probably find 10 reasons right now why you want a new iphone, but do you need one? Your frugal friend could be a mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, or even your spouse. Have you ever thought of calling a frugal friend to help with a tough financial decision?

What are some ways calling a frugal friend can help save you money?

1. Negotiating prices. If you are buying a car or large ticket item, it might be wise to call a frugal friend and get a second opinion. Buying a car can be very stressful and many numbers are thrown at you all at once. A friend can help you think through the purchase and make sure you are not buying some extras you don’t need. Do you need a security alarm installed by the dealer or used car warranty? Maybe you could find a third party who is cheaper.

2. Signing a contract. You utilize a real estate professional or attorney in some states when purchasing a home. Do you utilize a professional or third party when signing a cell phone contract? Do you understand early termination fees, text messaging rates, or internet usage charges? Many people are surprised by these fees and might have avoided them if a friend helped you read through the contract before signing.

3. The upsell. You might not even now it is happening, the upsell. Now you shouldn’t call a friend when you are being upsold at the movie theater. The typical upsell involves asking the customer if they want to purchase the large Coke for only 25 cents more. It’s a brilliant strategy, and I admit to falling for it. What about at the electronics store? Did you buy the warranty for your new pair of shoes? It only cost $10, but did you read the contract? Does it cover normal wear and tear, or only defects?

4. Jewelry. If you are buying or selling jewelry, do you know how to negotiate? If you are buying a diamond engagement ring, do you take a buddy with you that’s married. A married buddy has already research diamond rings and can offer you some invaluable money saving tips. Knowing your personal budget and making sure you have a plan for paying off this purchase is probably your first step. If you are close with your buddy, you can discuss your budget and spending limit before entering the jewelry store. You will probably be shown some rings that are out of your price range, and your buddy can give a nudge or cough to bring you back to earth. You and you new wife will feel much more happier starting your marriage off debt free.

5. Customer service. Next time your frustrated with a poor customer service call or situation, call a friend and calmly discuss the situation. I had a co-worker who was also a wonderful friend offer to help me deal with a car dealer. The dealer would not offer to fix my car as they said the damage was a pre-existing situation. I new I had never been in an accident, but couldn’t prove it to the dealer. My co-worker had a similar situation and took it to another independent dealer to examine the damage. I took the car to another dealer and they found that the car had been in a severe front impact accident and I then took the report to where I purchased the car. They fixed the damage and gave me a loaner car during the repair process. Listening to my frugal friend helped me emotionally and financially.

Many of us live busy lives and don’t think twice about signing a contract or buying something nice for ourselves. But, what if a quick phone call to a friend who is also frugal and has your best interest in mind. Most people wouldn’t care if you purchased an iphone and didn’t really need it. A friend who cares about your financial health might be able to offer you a second opinion on your larger financial decisions. I have benefited from having wonderful friends when looking at real estate or researching home loans. I would imagine my frugal friends have saved me thousands of dollars over the years.

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I was driving down the road when a commercial came on the radio from a local car dealership. The ad wasn’t your typical advertisement for new or pre-owned cars touting the safety or reliability of the cars, nor was it even an American auto dealer. The dealer had a personal plea to prospective buyers that asked listeners to help jump start the economy and buy a new car. He went on to say that he thought the economy would be fixed if we just went back to doing what we were doing and buy items to help grow our economy. I was amazed that the entire car commercial was about forgetting our financial problems and just buy a high end automobile. His message was clear, we won’t get out of the financial mess until we start buying again.

Several questions came to mind listening to this car commercial.

1. What happens if a customer loses a job? The assumption is that a new car buyer will be employed for the 5-7 years it takes to repay a car loan. I suppose a new car buyer could pay cash for the car, but my assumption is most people need to take out a loan. If the new car buyer loses a job and the car bank takes possession of the new car, how does that help the economy?

2. Is a used car a better investment? Buying a used car that meets your family budget would allow you to pay your other bills on time. Buying a new car might stretch your family budget, increase car insurance, not to mention the increase in our California vehicle license fee.

3. What about your current debt? Even if you purchase a new car with a fixed monthly payment, you might be surprised to find out your credit card companies are changing your rates. Credit card companies are allowed to alter your credit card terms and can increase rates. That new tv you purchased last year for 9.99% interest could increase to 19.99%. Check your terms and conditions of all your credit cards. If you don’t have a copy available, contact your card companies to get the latest terms and conditions. You don’t want to be surprised by your next months bill.

Before making a major purchase like a new car, be sure you have an adequate emergency savings account and that you have a plan for paying down your credit card debt. If you have an adequate savings account, no debt, job security, and your retirements on track, maybe you can consider buying a new car. Or, buy a newer one with low miles.

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photo credit: Clevergrrl

Coming out of a grocery store this weekend, I noticed a sign in front of Pet Food Express advertising a $15.00 self service dog washing center. I had to go in and inspect what $15 would buy and was surprised to find a very nice set-up with clean waist high shower areas and blow driers. Having two labrador retrievers, the cost would be $30 to bath my canine friends. I spoke to an employee who told me they were having a special if you purchased 3 dog baths, the 4th was free. Is it really worth $15 to take my dogs to a store and bath them myself?

What’s the time and cost of washing your own dog?

1. Time. It take me approx 20 minutes to rinse, soap, rinse and dry off one of my dogs. If I got in the car and drove the dogs to Pet Food Express, it would add an additional 10 minutes.

2. Dog shampoo. I purchased a fairly inexpensive dog shampoo at the store and it’s lasted for almost a year now. Total cost of shampoo was $9.99.

3. Hair Drying. I use old beach towels that we have set aside specifically to wash our pups. The store did have a large hose hair drying that would not require me to wash and dry my beach towels. This would save a little bit of time and resources. I’ll say $3.00

4. Water. If your dog requires warm water baths, it would add a little additional cost to your home utilities. I would imagine it would cost about the same as a long 20 minute shower. If you did take your dog to a self service dog store, you could bath them as long as you like. I doubt though you would want to make a day out of it. An extra money saving tip: you could jump in the shower with your dog and save time and money by conserving water. Just be sure to use the correct shampoo on your pooch.

5. Extras? No need to clean up. You can leave dog hair, water puddles and just walk out the door. How much is this worth to you?

If you have children at home, maybe you can wash your dog together as a family. That would certainly speed up the process and you probably will share a few smiles and laughs together. If you have several children, you could put one in charge of washing and another in charge of drying. Having a labrador that gets dirty constantly, the price could easily hit $30 during the rainy months.

Maybe you live in an apartment and don’t have a large shower or bathtub to wash your dog. Taking your dog to a self service dog wash or groomer may be your only option. Some breeds also require grooming and trimming, but fortunately that’s not needed with our labs. Although, I do have a neighbor that shaves his dogs each summer to help relieve them of the heat. I think my dogs would just run away if I approached them with a pair of hair clippers. Is it worth $15 dollars to make a mess of your yard and use a few towels?

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photo credit: eschipul

Since the age of 3, my daughter can spot a box of Disney princess cereal from across a supermarket. The past few weeks I’ve made it a personal goal to use coupons when possible at my local grocery store. Since my kids are part of the shopping experience and they have an amazing ability for brand recognition, I thought I would put them to work saving us money. We split up the coupons and see who can find the most products. So far it has been a success and we have been able to save money on groceries as a family. The kids just think it’s a game, but we are able to put more money towards our savings account each month. Last month we saved $200 from our family grocery budget and this month we should save an additional $50. Some items like meat I’ve purchased in bulk and put in the freezer for summer bbq’s.

Brand name coupons. Many of the coupons found in our Sunday paper are for brand name items. Our kids look for the brand name items, but we compare the store brand to make sure they are the best value. Some items, like cereal, my kids enjoy the brand name over the store versions. It probably has more to do with the fact that a Disney princess is on the cover though. When it comes to other products like pretzels or meat, they don’t have a clue about brands. This will be a topic of further discussion later about brand recognition and children. It’s very fascinating how they have learned about images and products at such an early age.

A money saving tip: look for coupons while shopping. Sometimes it’s hard to spot in-store coupons, but the kids have gotten really good at find them. Many coupons are on the products themselves and you can peel them off and redeem on the same shopping trip. This is a great way to keep kids busy during a shopping trip and allows them to participate in the shopping experience.

No coupon, no purchase. We have some friends that won’t buy most items if they don’t have a coupon. They simply tell children that they can’t buy gum or candy because they don’t have a coupon. I called a friend this last week to tell him I found a coupon for Mentos gum in the paper. He told me to hush. Kids will start to figure out that you can buy items without a coupon and they might start to catch on around age 5 or 6. You can explain that coupons help save money and that you chose to spend your money on items that are healthy for your bodies. If that doesn’t work, you can tell them that they can start a piggy bank to buy a special treat at the store. When they have save $1 or more, you can revisit the treat discussion again. Also, encouraging them to pick out fruits and fun snacks can help give them healthy alternatives to candy.

Clip coupons as a family. My 5 year-old loves to use scissors and make craft projects. We supervise her use of the scissors and encourage her to cut out the coupons and practice making straight cuts along the lines. She then sorts the coupons by product: bread, vegetable, fruit, household, etc.

Keep your grocery coupon savings. You just saved $20 on your groceries. What will you do with that $20? Do you put it towards paying credit card debt first? Doesn’t sound very glamorous, but do you? If you don’t have credit card debt, are you building up your emergency savings account balance? It can be easy to just let that $20 sit in your checking account waiting for your next opportunity to spend it on something fun.

How do you involve your children in grocery shopping trips?

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photo credit: DDFic

The great frugal debate: high efficiency toilet (HET) vs. good old fashioned red brick. I have a toilet from 1975 in our guest bathroom that I want to replace with a new low flow toilet that uses 1.2 gallons per flush, or gpf to be technical. The 1975 American Standard toilet doesn’t leak, make noise, or look out of date. I hate getting rid of something that works, but it just wasn’t made for a home in a state that’s going through a drought. What are my options? Back in the 70’s or 80’s before low flow toilets, you could place a brick or large rock in your toilet tank that decreased water usage (Thanks Passive Grandpa for reminding me). What in the world would this do? The brick displaces the water level in the tank and your toilet uses less water. So, cost of new Kohler toilet $300 versus red brick $1.50? Actually, the red brick is free as I have several from an old project.

Visiting my county website I found rebate information and called to verify a list of approved HET toilets. The county is currently offering a $175 rebate towards a new Kohler HET bringing the total cost to $125. I received a quote for the installation of the new toilet of $300. The only items needed are a new wax seal and some plastic shims if the ground is not level. Total cost for the wax seal and shims are under $10. $300 vs. $10? Looks like I’m going to install this new Kohler myself.

Do you have a red brick in your toilet? How many bricks would it take to use 1.2 gpf for my current 1975 American Standard Toilet? I only have room for one and I’m still using over 2 gpf. So, technically the red brick would not match the water conservation of the new Kohler HET. But, the red brick is free and I would be using less water compared to the original 1975 American Standard.

Brick or HET toilet? Let’s say my current toilet uses 2 gpf and we use it 20 times a day. 40 gallons with brick vs. 24 gallons with Kohler HET. My current water usage rate per gallon is .0054. The HET toilet would save me 480 gallons a month or $2.60. With the Kohler rebate, it would take 4 years to recover the $125 cost of the new HET toilet.

Water drought. We are currently at 60% of normal rain and our water district has sent notice to customers that a new fee schedule may be adopted to encourage water rationing. What does this mean for our water bill? We don’t know. The rates may not go up this year, but they could in 2010. The Roi for the HET toilet could be more like 2-3 years.

The environment. Even if it doesn’t make financial sense to purchase a new HET toilet now, what about the impact on the environment? Using an additional 480 gallons a month can be considered wasteful.

So, what would you do? Red brick or new Kohler HET toilet?

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