Is Frugal a bad word?

"Let me ask you, is ‘miser’ a bad word? What about ‘cheapskate’? Or ‘stingy’? How about ‘thrifty’? ‘Frugal’?” Some folks shook their heads no to all, some giggled, and many gave all-knowing grins. We had been invited to speak to the Welcome-Newcomer Club of Galesburg, Illinois at its monthly meeting.

This was our first live speaking engagement as Frugal Living Press. (Yes, we did the “Paula Sands Live” TV show in Davenport, Iowa, but that was TV, and this was in-person!) I was pretty sure I could handle this on my own, and standing before this group of about 30 women, I felt very comfortable—they certainly lived up to their name. Each one had been given a handout with information about our company, three of our favorite blog entries and two of Carol’s wonderful recipes (printed on both sides of the paper to save trees and money).

I spoke for about a half hour, giving background to our business and how Carol and I met (high school science fair) and why we believe we are filling a niche that needs to be filled in these tough economic times. Then I asked if they had any frugal ideas to share.

One woman’s husband came up with the idea of lining the garbage can with a garbage bag, then lining that bag with a plastic bag from the grocery store. If the store bag doesn’t leak, the expensive bag stays in; if it leaks, the whole thing is replaced. No messy pail and a big savings on trash bags.

Others talked about doing things like keeping unused napkins from fast food restaurants to bring to meetings to save money. Members participate in a fund-raising raffle at every meeting. I had brought two of our books for door prizes, so they had their usual fund-raising raffle for the baked goods first (for those who paid for the tickets) then put the tickets back in the drawing and gave those who were not in the raffle a ticket, and drew from that. (This saved raffle tickets.) We were all surprised when the winners were sitting next to each other!

We want to thank Vickie Dowers for inviting us to participate in this group’s monthly meeting. I have to say, I was impressed with the two missions of the group: They make it a point to contribute to the community in some way every month (food bank, etc.) and also have ongoing social events (like bridge) to keep active and have fun. Below are pictures that were taken that day. You can see we were all having a great time!

Frugally traveling

My husband and I maintain some of our frugal ways while we travel. As always, we cut corners on things we don’t care about in order to have money to spend on what we do care about, even when we’re in another country. Some people don’t want to travel if they have to be frugal on the trip, but we don’t mind, because it gets us what we want while we’re there.

It’s all about setting priorities. We don’t fly first class nor do we stay in high-end hotels. We don’t want to try to afford the Georges V in Paris if every waking moment will be spent out and about and all we’re going to do at the hotel is sleep and shower; that would take money we could be spending on other things. On my last trip to Paris in 2008, I got a great deal in a small hotel for $80US a night. It was lovely, newly rehabbed, in a fabulous neighborhood, had a flat-screen HDTV and a typical Parisian balcony, and the price included a delicious breakfast buffet.

Granted, that kind of luck doesn’t always happen. We’ve also done our share of time in some not-so-lovely places that had seen better days. However, unless the neighborhood seems unsafe, we don’t change hotels, because we’re only in the room to sleep and shower, not look at the furniture.

We also save money by eating on-the-cheap and planning for just one really spectacular meal per trip. As luck would have it, we almost always have several spectacular meals per trip, because more dollar signs on the menu do not necessarily equal better food. One of our most memorable meals was in a pizza place in a little town in northwest France, where we sat at a communal table; the people were friendly, the food and wine were delicious, and the local cheeses were out of this world. At a communal table in a hamburger joint in Geneva, Switzerland, lunch became a two-hour gabfest with a fascinating Saudi family who worked for the World Health Organization.

We also picnic in public parks with food we buy at local farmers’ markets or grocery stores. We eat street food: What could be better than one of those plump, juicy rotisserie chickens from a street stall? And the memory of the vendor, a gregarious African man who spoke no English, who tried to figure out what parts of the chicken I wanted by slapping different places on his body? And of his Vietnamese wife, who was cooking noodles and vegetables over a steaming wok in the back? I can still see the steam from the wok envelop her profile and dissipate over her head.

We also take advantage of freebies. Almost every public attraction and museum in the world, including the Louvre, has a free admission day; plan accordingly. Many cities have museum passes; you can buy a week-long pass to almost every museum in that particular city that pays for itself after only one or two visits.

Before you go, study guidebooks, CDs and DVDs about your destination, borrowed from your public library. Find out about freebies and low-cost attractions. For example, after one overnight flight, I landed at dawn, went out for breakfast, and then headed to a beautiful, old church known for its free pipe organ concerts every Sunday after mass.

We rely on public transportation almost exclusively when we travel, because most cities have some form that is reliable, safe and clean, and a fraction of the cost of cabs, so buy a map, preferably before you leave, so you know where you’re going when you get there, how much it costs and how to use it. Yes, we’ve been lost a couple of times, but it’s all part of the adventure of travel. Besides, it forces you to interact with the locals, and that adds a flavor to travel that you might not get otherwise.—Carol Wiley Lorente