Living cheap

Ditch the car- take the bus

Instead of driving to work and/or school and back every day, consider taking your local mass transit bus. This ride can save you time and money.
Even if the ride is not the most direct and you are in traffic longer than if you drove, consider yourself gaining time since you have that extra time to work on something else instead of paying attention to the road. Read a book (or get a little farther on that novel you've been workin' on... y'know… with the compelling protagonist?) This will be far less stressful than fighting traffic and can give you that little needed relaxing break during the day.
Often you can get special passes that are good for so long and only cost a set amount. These are also usually cheaper for students and seniors. (For those with children in middle/high school- if you're a certain distance away from the school, sometimes it is free for your children to take the bus to school.) Add up how much it would cost you to ride for a month as opposed to how much the gas would cost for that month and the wear and tear created on your car. Chances are, you could save a significant amount of money.
By riding mass transportation, you are one less car on the road, which helps traffic and the environment. Some city busses have even implemented environmentally friendly tactics, such as running on forms of biodiesel.
For an added plus, try riding a bike (when feasible) to places instead of driving. This is even better for the environment than any vehicle and gives you some good exercise!

transportation, traffic, taking the bus, car, living cheap

eating and entertaining

It is all in the presentation. Presentation is everything. You can entertain friends and associates at home even it you are not a great cook. Many groceries now have a deli section with prepared foods. Also the sellections of prepared food in one's freezer section at the grocery has vastly improved in recent years.
It is all in the planning. Invest in a matching set of dishes. They do not have to be expensive. You would be surprised what one can find in Big Lots and the Dollar Tree Stores. Make sure your set of dishes for entertaining has cups and saucers and not mugs. Mugs are way too casual for a dinner party. Invest in at least one real cloth tablecloth and cloth napkins. If you can't find cheap cloth napkins always buy Kleenex prefolded napkins.
Set your table properly and make sure the utinsils are in the correct positions. Get a decent set of flatware/stainless steel. There are some good sets out there that look as nice as real silver. Presentation is everything.
Sample 5 to 6 course meal for 6 to 8:
Soup in small clear or white bowls that do not have to match your dishes. Buy Campbells or Progressive. Get rid of the cans they will never know. Small servings. Salad: buy the ones in the the bags and add tomatoes and coutons. These should be pre-dressed salads in individual dishes and put in the dishes ahead of time and cover with plastic wrap. Get them out of the frig, remove the wrap and serve.
One can get a 2 lb. white meat turkey breast at SAve-A-Lot for $3.99 with gravy. Pre-made mashed potatoes. A vegetable. Desert, Anything as long as it is served in or on a matching and a nice dish.
One can easily have a very nice dinner party for 6 to 8 people for less than $30 if you know how to do it. Presentation is everything.
You might be surprised to learn that your friends may also be suffering the budget crunch and avoiding dinner invitations because they can not afford to reciprocate (return the favor). They may beg off going to dinner with you because they figure the next one is on them and they can't afford it either. You do it at home and start a new trend.

living cheap

Fine Dining For Less

For high end dining on a budget, check out the culinary schools in your area. Most schools have a student-run restaurant and/or bakery to give students experience in restaurant management and real-world chef experience. These restaurants usually offer much more affordable set menus with great service. They are often well-kept secrets and reservations book up early.

frugality, money, living cheap, restaurant, eating out

Free Storage Systems

Don't have money to buy shelves or dressers? Go down to costco and pick up stackable boxes from their produce area. I like the lettuce ones best - they're big, they stack, and there's a window cutout in the front to reach in and grab stuff out. They're surpringly durable and can hold lots of heavy things like books. I stack them inside my closets for a cheap storage solution. And you can easily paint them for a decent looking, free storage solution.

frugality, money, living cheap, organization

Stop going out to eat

This is one of the most overlooked money-conusming activities you can do. You can easily eat at home for less than $5 per meal.. more likely it will be closer to $0.50-3 per meal. Going out to eat can easily cost you $10-30 per person. If you went out to eat with another person every night for dinner and spent $50 on it you would spend $18,250 in a year. Spend one tenth of that at home ($5) and eat for $1825 per year.

If you're trying to save money just stay home. It's cheaper and likely much more healthy for you.

eating, frugality, living cheap, money, saving

Don't go to the movies

Movies are one of the easiest ways to get ripped off in this country. $8 to watch, $10 for popcorn. It's outrageous. If you want to save money stop going to the movies when they're first released. You can easily blow $30+ in one night.

If you want to go to a theater wait until the movie has been out for awhile and go to a cheap theater. You can usually get in for 2 or 3 bucks.

frugality, living cheap, money

Save money: Use craigslist and freecycle

Almost every city with a population over 100k in this country has a craigslist or freecycle. These are both wonderful little online communities where you can find stuff for cheap or free.

money, living cheap, frugality

Save money: Read/Listen to the Millionaire Next Door

This is a great book that everyone should read. It describes how ordinary, plain people are the people that are truly rich in this world - not the extravagant spenders and people who appear to be wealthy.

frugality, money, living cheap

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