For many of you, your income is pretty much fixed. You could get a second job, but the additional income may or may not outweigh the time spent outside of your home & away from your family. And for most people, simply getting a second job doesn’t do any good, because most people adjust their spending to their income. Think back to when you were a college student or newly on your own. You probably didn’t have much income, but somehow you made it because your spending was adjusted.
The first & foremost tightwad principle is to spend less than you make. There are lots of tips & tricks to help you do this, but if you don’t commit to this single principle, you will never save money.
Once you get in the practice of analyzing your purchases & spending below your income, it becomes second nature. At first, though, you must examine every single purchase that you make and decide if you are getting the most for your money.
From now on, I don’t want you to buy another item until it has passed the Frugal Four test.
Ask yourself:
-Do I need this or just want this?
-Could I use materials I already have to improvise this?
-Could I borrow it or use another temporary alternative?
-Could I purchase it used instead of new?
Let’s look at a real-life example to see how it fares with the Frugal Four test.
I would like to build a small raised patio at the foot of our deck. The easiest way to accomplish the task would be to use a table saw. We don’t own a table saw and a new one costs $150 or more.
When testing this potential purchase, I would ask myself:
Do I need this or just want this?
Well, we have long identified the need for a table saw. While it may be a “want” to build the patio at all, in the long run, a table saw will end up saving us money by enabling us to do many more projects than just the patio. So, at this point, I would call the table saw a “need.”
Could I use materials I already have to improvise this?
Yes. We could use a circular saw each time we do a cut. However, we have used our circular saw in place of the needed table saw on many past projects & each time, we have messed up our cuts. Circular saws cannot be as precise with straight cuts as table saws.
Could I borrow it or use another temporary alternative?
Yes. We have two friends who own table saws. One lives 25 minutes away & the other an hour away. We could take our wood to cut at their homes. This would be very inconvenient & use gas money; however, we would be able to visit with our friends at the same time. The circular saw has made a somewhat adequate temporary alternative for quite some time if we can accept flawed, messy cuts.
Could I purchase it used instead of new?
Absolutely. I don’t know if we’ll break down & buy a table saw for this project, but when we do purchase one, it will definitely be used. I love buying used tools in particular. I typically spend less for a tool of high quality than if I had bought the least expensive off-brand tool at a discount store.
This is an example of an item that would go on my wish list--a rather extensive written list that I keep so that I can refer to it when I hear of a good estate sale or when yard sale season begins or when my birthday is coming up. It is not uncommon for us to identify a need and wait months or even years before finding the right deal & purchasing the item.
How many times have you thought of something you would like to purchase and headed on over to the store to pick it up without a second thought? How many times has it happened in the last week? How much money would you have if you had just not purchased the items you bought last week? Would it be enough to start a small savings account?
Get Moving I’m going to list the Frugal Four test for you right here. I want you to hit the print button on your computer. Go ahead and tell your printer to print only pages 1-3 so you don’t waste paper & ink. That should cover this entry. Now, after it prints, I want you to cut out the Frugal Four down here in this section. Tuck them right inside your wallet or your checkbook or whatever it is you use to buy items when you’re shopping. Make sure you put them where you can see them before you can access your money.
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