Penny Pincher Journal: How To Save Money Every Day

By Dr. Penny Pincher

Penny Pincher Journal: How To Save Money Every Day provides valuable tips on saving money every day. Spend a day with Dr. Penny Pincher and learn to save $17,000 per year! Dr. Penny Pincher has a Ph.D. in engineering and likes to share the ways he has found to enjoy life more while spending less money. Learn how to spend less money on food, shoes, clothing, heating, fitness, razor blades, gasoline, coffee, jeans, cake, pet food, vehicle expenses and more. Plus, learn some easy ways to make money as you enjoy frugal living. Penny Pincher Journal will help you identify ways to enjoy life more and spend less money. How is this possible? Many things that people spend money on are simply not necessary and do not contribute to their happiness. Dr. Penny Pincher likes to find ways to eliminate unnecessary things that consume money and waste time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Penny Pincher
• Release date: Feb 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310671098

Dr. Penny Pincher

Dr. Penny Pincher has a Ph.D. in engineering and lives and works in eastern Iowa with his wife and two sons. In 2013, Dr. Penny Pincher founded Penny Pincher Journal, a blog about saving money every day. His hobbies include drinking great coffee, annoying his family, riding his cheapcycle (cheap bicycle), and saving money every day.

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Acknowledgements

To my beautiful wife, who would make a much better writer than me. I am lucky she puts up with my penny pinching and generally geeky and non-social behavior. She encouraged me as I developed my blog and then this book. I wouldn't give her up for all the pennies in the world! To my parents who taught me the value of money and always encouraged me to push the envelope and pursue my interests. To my small white designer puppy- even though I objected to getting her, she reminds me that sometimes expensive things are worth the trouble and transcend monetary value.

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Prologue- The Making of a Penny Pincher

I remember growing up in the 1970's with copies of Mother Earth News in the house, filled with articles on self-sufficiency and homesteading. We grew a lot of our own vegetables in large gardens while living in a small town. We ate homemade yogurt and sprouts that my Mom grew in the kitchen. When I was 10 years old, my family moved to a small farm of 40 acres with a small creek and pastures, opening up a new world of possibilities.

On the farm, we increased our gardening production and raised our own meat in the form of hogs and chickens. We were able to give away extra produce to our friends and neighbors, and sold items at local farmer’s markets.

Principles of frugal living were a way of life on the farm. It was so much easier to reuse something instead of buying something new- not only in terms of saving money, but simple logistics. It was a long drive to a store to buy things, so we naturally tended to minimize shopping trips and focused instead of making use of the things we already had on hand.

My family was very frugal growing up. I remember driving cars that my Dad bought for a few hundred dollars and kept running for years. My Mom prepared all of our food, mostly from homegrown produce and meat, and was good at sewing and making ceramic crafts. Notice that I said we were frugal, not poor. As a result of having very few expenses, we had lots of disposable income- we just saved the income rather than disposing of it!

My brother and I both got the penny pincher gene, apparently. My brother’s frugal habits are legendary in our family. You may have heard of that TV show Design on a Dime: my brother literally spends less than a dime to decorate some rooms in his house! He tends to take a minimalist approach to most situations, especially anything that involves spending money...

The next generation of penny pinchers is off to a good start in my house today. My sons have really learned the value of a dollar. I once sent my oldest son on a school trip to an amusement park with $20 spending money for meals and snacks all day. He came back with more than the $20 I sent with him after making careful spending choices and finding money on the ground. Once during a long day while visiting someone in the hospital, I handed my youngest son $2 to get a snack at the vending machine. He handed it back, saying it would be a waste of money. Some people who overheard this conversation remarked that it is rare to see kids who appreciate money these days. These kids are going to turn out OK!

My goal in producing Penny Pincher Journal is to help people identify ways to enjoy life more and spend less money. How is this possible? Many things that people spend money on are simply not necessary and do not contribute to their happiness. I like to find ways to eliminate unnecessary things that consume money and time.

Some of the material in this book originated from my blog, Penny Pincher Journal, other material was created on my Dr. Penny Pincher HubPages website, and other material is included exclusively for this book. I put this material all together in one place to make a convenient reference book for anyone who is looking for ways to save money. If you don’t find ways to save money that add up to more than the purchase price of this book, then either A) you didn’t read very carefully or B) you are my brother!

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Section One- Saving Money Every Day

Spending money seems almost automatic in today’s world. There are opportunities to spend money at almost every turn. These articles help you find opportunities to cut unnecessary spending, allowing you to save money every day.

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How I Saved Money Today

Welcome to my frugal living blog for a day. Today was an ordinary day for me, but I decided to look back through my day and write a frugal living blog about things I did today to save money. If I would have known that I would be writing a blog about my day, I may have done some extraordinary things to save money so I could impress you by writing about them. But since I just now had the idea to write about how I saved money today, you'll get to read about the kind of ordinary things that I do to save money on a typical day.

5:30 AM: Coffee for 60 Cents

Today was not totally ordinary- I had to get up a bit earlier than normal to take my son to a school event. I followed my normal routine, only everything was early. Coffee is important every day, but even more important since I was up early.

I make great coffee at home by grinding my own beans, and brewing coffee in a coffee maker with a thermal carafe and a cone filter system. This may sound expensive, but it only costs me 60 cents to make 16 oz of coffee that is better than coffee shop coffee. If I wanted, I could make really cheap coffee for a few cents, but I find that having a good cup of coffee is worth the money to me- especially if it only costs 60 cents. Savings: $1.50 per day by making my own coffee vs. buying coffee at a coffee shop.

5:45 AM: Check the Weather Forecast on Free TV with an Indoor Antenna

Since it is the middle of winter in Iowa, a quick check of the weather forecast and to check for school delays or cancellations was in order. I turned on my TV and enjoyed a few minutes of the morning news with free high definition TV from a local station. I use an indoor TV antenna to get HDTV. I saved about $120 per month by dropping satellite TV and using free TV and Netflix instead. Savings: $4 per day by using free TV instead of satellite TV or cable TV.

6:00 AM Cheap Winter Clothes

Today I was really glad that I found tons of cheap winter clearance clothes last year. I wore a name brand button-up shirt that I got for $5, and a nice heavy winter fleece that I got for $8. I picked these items up at 80% at winter clearance sales. The trick to finding the good bargains at winter clearance sales is finding the sale at the right time. The good stuff goes fast! Later in this book is a guide on how to find cheap winter clothes at clearance sales.

Choosing shoes every morning is pretty easy- I have black dress shoes and brown dress shoes. I also have tennis shoes, but tennis shoes aren't suitable for work. Today I went with the black dress shoes after moving my shoe inserts from my brown shoes. Using shoe inserts allows me to wear older shoes without hurting my feet. Savings: I save about $1.50 per day ($500 per year) buying cheap clothes instead of full-price clothes.

6:15 AM Packed Lunch- Healthy and Cheap

I packed my giant lunchbox for the day. I put a couple frozen ice packs in the bottom, then placed a Tupperware container of left-over pasta with marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese on the ice packs. Next, I added some red grapes, clementines and a container of Greek yogurt.

I also packed my breakfast- a Tupperware container of Golden Grams cereal.

Packing lunch can save you about $165 per month compared with eating out for lunch. Not only can you save money by packing your own lunch, but it is healthier than eating out as well. Later in this book is a chapter with tips on how to pack your lunch and save money.

If you don't always remember to pack a lunch, here are some tips on getting a good lunch at work without spending a lot of money. Savings: $10 per day by bringing my own breakfast and lunch vs. eating out and buying food at work.

6:30 AM: Drive to Work Getting 40 mpg in a 12 Year Old Car That Is Paid Off

It was time to drop my son off at school and head to work. Actually my wife decided to drive my son the short trip to school and I headed off to work in my 2002 Honda Civic. This is a car that I bought as a 7 year old used car and it has required almost no repairs or expensive maintenance.

My car gets 40 mpg overall with my mix of about 15% city and 85% highway driving. Back in 2002, cars with manual transmission got better gas mileage than automatic transmission. When it was time to pick out a car, I reviewed the fuel economy ratings for cars I was interested in driving. The Honda Civic with manual transmission had one of the best fuel economy ratings for that model year and was highly rated for reliability as well.

Most people spend a lot of money every month on gas- driving a fuel efficient car saves you money every day. Most people spend a lot of money every month on car payments. If you can find an older car that is affordable and reliable, driving an older car that is paid off can save you money every day.

If you are not ready to get a different vehicle to get better gas mileage, later in this book you’ll find tips on how to get better gas mileage with the car you already own. Savings: $16 by driving a small car with no car payments. $13 per day by not making a car payment ($400 per month) plus $3 on gas per day vs. driving a bigger car or SUV.

Workday: No Extra Driving Around

One way that I save money every day is by minimizing extra driving around. I got to work early, found a great parking space, and left my car parked all day. You can save wear and tear on your car simply by driving it less. You can also save gas by avoiding unnecessary short trips during the workday.

Since eating my lunch that I brought with me took only a few minutes, I had plenty of time to take a walk. Since it was below zero outside, I walked inside. Walking is a great activity that you can do for free without any special equipment. Savings: Short trips can easily use $1 or $2 of gas every day. I included the gas savings under the previous section..

After Work: Stop at Library

I stopped by the library on the way home to check out the rack of books for sale inside. Of course, you can check out books and movies for free at the library, but sometimes I like to buy used books to keep for awhile.

At my library, you can buy used paperback books for 25 cents and used hard cover books for 50 cents. I didn't find anything today, but last month I found a used book at a half-price bookstore on JavaScript for $5.99 and taught myself to make interactive calculators on how to save and make money. My favorite: a millionaire calculator