I just opened up my phone/TV/internet bill, and it was sixteen bucks more than it was last month, so I called the cable company to find out why. And when they explained that I had been under a special promo offer when I signed up three months ago that had now expired, I dropped the HBO and Showtime to get the bill back down to where it was.
Yeah, I'm that person.
I'm the person who will get home from grocery shopping and, upon discovering that I was charged twice for a $5.99 package of chicken, will take my receipt and go right back to the store.
I'm the person who knows who's got the best price on cat food, and whether the extra gas I spend to get to that store will pay itself off in the lower cost. Yeesh. Yeah, that's me.
I'm the asshole ahead of you in line who counts out her change. I'm sorry. I really am.
I clip coupons. I scour store flyers. I buy generic paper towels. I purchase my clothes at thrift stores. I've never owned a brand-new car in my life. My nineteen-inch TV is now twenty years old.
I was raised upper-middle-class, but once I went out on my own, I was low-income for so long that I think this stuff is ingrained in me now.
And honestly? It hurts me to buy something one place, when I know I could get it someplace else cheaper.
I'm not proud of it or anything; actually, it's kind of embarrassing. My name is RockyCat and I'm a cheapskate.
But you know what all those years of scrimping did? It bought me a house.
I never, ever would have been able to save up the money to buy a house if I hadn't already been so used to cutting corners. All I had to do was a cut a little further for a couple of years, and I had my down payment.
Now, of course, I don't own the house. The bank owns the house. But I'm building equity, and someday I will own that house, flat-out.
All thanks to generic paper towels and the thrift store.
How about you? Any good money-saving ideas? Let's hear 'em! Maybe I can save another five cents. Ha.
E-mail me!
You can e-mail me at rockycat24@yahoo.com
About Me
- rockygrace
- I was born in 1962; you do the math. (See also: I'm too lazy to remember to update this thing regularly.) I bought my first house in the summer of 2009; I share it with four cats and with the memories of The Runt and Little Girl, who both passed away in 2011. Rocky, the cat for whom this blog was named, passed away in 2008; I miss them all. I wish I lived somewhere where the winters weren't eight months long; other than that, life is good.
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- I'm that person
- and speaking of kittens ...
- and then I broke my got-dam toe
- Hoping I'm not making a big mistake
- I really should start up Freaky Friday again ...
- The bus monitor
- Oh yes I said it. Oh yes I did.
- Look who's home!
- Monkeys in a tree
- Soda Update
- Kind thoughts for SodaPop
- Peelin' the easy way. Oh lord.
- A perfect life. A perfect mind.
- Grazin' in the grass is a gas, baby, can you dig it?
- Youth in Asia
- hahaha oh wait, it gets better - NOW WITH AN UPDATE!
- Am I crazy?
- Movie Review: "The Fighter"
- Gratuitous Cute Kitten Pics
- Here I go, being all inSENsitive again
- and just to cap it off ...
- ... and then I forgot about my ceiling fans
- Stupid is as stupid does
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13 comments:
Daughter laughs at me because I wash and reuse zip-lock bags. I buy refurbished TVs from Woot.com. I've got 30-year-old clothes in my closet, and I sew. When Daughter snorts at me, I just remind her that I paid cash for the house, and you don't do that when you throw away pennies. Pennies go for investments, not liabilities.
I gave up Kleenex long ago and have a wonderful, soft collection of handkerchiefs. I may buy generic paper towels, but it will take me a year to go through a pack, if not longer, because I use tea towels / kitchen towels. I have and use a VCR. I don't have cable for the TV. I have Internet access and watch stuff from Hulu or Netflix on my laptop.
I admit I do get a little loose with buying my lunch at work sometimes, but eventually, I call myself back to walk the straight and narrow.
Occasionally, I will call up the cable company and ask to cancel the service. They will usually offer me about half off for a couple of months and I'll take it.
My vet will sneak me things for Boris's care, such as needles for his fluids.
I only buy my cars new but drive them until they can't be driven any more (about 11 - 12 years). And for the last two times, bought Toyota Camrys. Have to admit I treat myself to a nice middle-class ride, but never anything too over the top.
I don't scrimp on cat food. That costs in the long run.
When I have health insurance, I go get caught up on all my tests, eye stuff, and dental work.
Oh - latest thing. I bought a pen and a big bottle of Noodler's Ink. I got tired of throwing away pens. I know it's as nothing in the landfill but there is something nice about writing with a fountain pen.
You know I love this post!
Forget generic paper towels/mapkins; use cloth napkins and cloths or sponges for cleaning. I haven't used paper towels in my apartment since I moved in (a year ago). I used to think that I needed them for cat barf episodes, but toilet paper is a quick substitute for that. Plus, I've eaten enough take-out that I usually have a small stash of paper napkins that restaurants give me.
Like Silk, I also reuse Ziploc bags.
No cable TV.
Not buying meat saves a lot of money. Rice and beans are cheap.
Reusable shopping bags get you $.03 back each time you use them (at least at the store where I shopped there--my reusable bags have actually increased in value as I moved west: $.05).
I actually stay away from most coupons. They're usually for things that aren't terribly healthy or cheap to begin with (hence the rice and beans).
Whenever I can, I make my own vegetable broth from veggie scraps.
Check out:
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/
for some great homemade cleaners.
Kris
These are all great ideas! I'm curious - How do you dry the zip-loc bags? Do you drape them over something?
Ziplocks - dry with dishtowel, then air dry over the loops on the side of the dishrack that are supposed to hold glasses, or hooked over silverware in the rack, or the smaller ones will stand up, opening down, on the counter. If there's only one, it will go over the faucet or faucet handle.
They're easy to wash and dry if you turn them inside out and wear them like gloves.
If you don't have a dishrack, put a handful of takeout chopsticks or bamboo skewers in a glass, splay them out, and hang the bags on the ends. Instant drying rack for all kinds of small items.
"If you don't have a dishrack" ... what do you think I am, a hillbilly or something?! :)
"If you don't have running water" ...
sorry, ~~Silk, that just cracked me up for some reason.
"If you don't have electricity" ...
Now that's just a slap in the face of the dishrack-deprived. Next, you'll be belittling people who eat with a shoehorn to save money on spoons.....Ginny
Sniff. Pout. Hey, lots of people with dishwashers don't have dishracks! The country house has a double sink and very hard water, so I didn't have a dishrack there. I just put the washed dishes in the other side of the sink, rinsed them all together, and dried them immediately with a dishtowel so the hard water didn't make spots.
Pout.
Oh, Silk, I was poking at RockyGrace, not you! I wish I had half your enthusiasm and energy instead of being a human slug....Ginny
Aw, ~~Silk, we're sorry. We were just having a little fun.
Now excuse me while I go wash some dishes ...
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