The Frugal Prof

Its Not about the Money. Its about taking charge

Thoughts on Consumer Culture and Advertising

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Consumerism:  the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.

 

Thoughts on Consumer Culture and Advertising:

*Affiliate Disclosure:  This post may contain links to companies and products I endorse.  I receive a fee for this relationship, but the reader pays nothing.  These fees defer the costs of producing this blog.

Peak Consumer Culture: Costco on Circular Day

Don’t get me wrong; I love Costco.  In fact, when I lived in Manhattan, I used to rent a car and go to Costco and stock up on all my supplies for the month.  I loved those trips.  I felt incredibly smart as I drove back to New York with massive quantities of discounted paper towels, toilet paper, frozen dinners,  and protein bars.

Now that I live in California, I couldn’t pass up a groupon offer that came my way:  $60 membership fee and receive a $20 cashback card as a thank you.  Done!

One problem:  I needed to join before November 30th.

So here I was on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, when they release their holiday circular, stuck at Costco trying to activate my membership.  The definition of consumer culture. Shopping hell is an understatement.  The parking lot felt like the parking lot for the SuperBowl, and not in a good way.

I signed up.  I got some stuff.  I didn’t blow my budget and I left.




 

Frugal Takeaway: I will share one new observation with you. In a world dominated by Amazon, Costco is no longer a great value.  In fact, I think Amazon is now better than Costco, especially if you use Subscribe and Save.

 

 Amazon Subscribe and Save:  Amazon gives you a bulk discount of 15% on household items.  In fact, if you use Subscribe and Save and then use an Amazon cash back credit card, the savings come to 20%  Pretty great, right?   You make a list of the items you use frequently on the Amazon page.  Then, once a month they send you the items at a reduced price.

If you order more than 5 items, the cost is reduced by 15%.  Because Amazon ships the items together, they save on the shipping costs.  And they pass the savings on to you.  I love it.  It’s very convenient.  The cost savings are huge and it saves me time as well.

 

What I bought on Cyber Monday

On cyber Monday, I bought an Amazon Echo with Alexa.  It was difficult to pass up at $29.95 and I thought I might like it.  Here’s what I discovered.  It wasn’t really that cheap.  I liked it.  It seemed cool and fun.  Except that I bought it for music and it had none.  Specifically, you could Join Amazon’s music club.  Or, upgrade to Spotify Premium, etc…  I can use my IPAD to play music from a bluetooth speaker.

So, apart from telling Alexa, “Play music.”  I wasn’t getting anything from this purchase.   And I would wind up with an extra $5 or $7 monthly charge for music.  The Echo was inexpensive and cool.  Yet, it really didn’t add any value to my life. And I returned it. Products that don’t add value to my life go back to the store.

Value Investing

Advertising and Consumer Culture

There is a disturbing television commercial I keep seeing.  Maybe you’ve seen it.  The Parents watch their child in the backyard.  It is clearly the West.  Its Christmas, but there is no snow.  The child looks sad.   Shot of the mother clearly disturbed by her child looking sad.  There is a problem here.  What kind of parents don’t offer a child snow on Christmas?

Solution: Thanks to a new $90,000 Range Rover, the parents drive all night to solve this problem:  they arrive just in time for their daughter to enjoy Christmas in the mountains with snow.  The problem has been solved.  The family is happy.  All is well.

The ad is everything that is wrong with consumer society. It is manipulative and ridiculous. It is the essence of everything that is wrong with consumerism in America. Money is nice, but it will not solve all your problems.  It feeds into the idea that I can always buy something to “fix” my problem.  And I have been guilty of this mindset too.



Relevant Articles:

Consumerism:  Do we even know why we want what we want

Use Ebay to create quick Cash

What made me say Enough

Consumerism: Buying to solve my problems.

I admit that in the past, I have tried to use money to solve my problems.  It doesn’t work well. I can see how much mindless shopping I have done over the past few years.  That is one reason why I suggest people unsubscribe from retail email lists.  It removes temptation.  I’ve been guilty of using shopping to cure things like boredom or stress.  It doesn’t work in the long run.

Stoicism and Consumerism:

I read the book, The Obstacle is the Way recently and it was incredible. It’s basically a historical view of Stoicism.

Stoicism:  There is a very simple, though not easy, way of living. Take obstacles in your life and turn them into your advantage, control what you can and accept what you can’t.

Essentially, you have to accept what is.  We can’t make everything perfect.  Its not a perfect world.  Seeking to find solutions through money and shopping is a lie sold to us through marketing and advertising.  We have to power to decide what messages are true and which are distortions.

Conclusion:

There is no perfect Holiday season.  It’s odd how we pretend to be in a good mood during the holiday season leading up to gift giving.  And by February, everyone is suffering a bit of a hangover.   The gifts and presents haven’t kept us happy.  We have bills.  The cheer is gone.

The larger goal in my opinion, is to create a life that is fulfilling most of the time.

Becoming debt free and achieving financial freedom will create a much more fulfilling life.

 

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It’s Not About the Money.  It’s About Taking Charge and Becoming Debt Free

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How to be debt Free

Its about taking charge of my money

It’s Not About the Money.  It’s about taking charge and becoming Debt Free.

Here are the steps I used to Become Debt Free:

1.  Get organized:   Its nearly impossible to stay in debt if you’re organized.  For most people this means opening the credit card statements that are unopened in a box or drawer somewhere.

You can no longer hide in denial about the credit card debt or student debt that has accumulated.  By getting organized, you will be able to Take Charge of your personal finances.  You wont need a personal loan or any debt relief.

Right now, I’m reviewing my year end credit card statements from last year and I see so many charges that I have been able to cut out.  And I feel great about all the money I am saving.   Read more about the dumb stuff I bought last year.

 

 

 

2.  Create a Budget:

It doesn’t have to be fancy.  On one side is all the income you have coming in.  And on the other side is ALL the expenses you have going out.  Every dime!

Which means you must open the credit card statements and really understand where your money has been going.  One of the advantages of this exercise is that it allows you to find your areas of wasteful spending.

 

Relevant Articles:

The Best Personal Finance Books

Survey Sites That Actually Pay

It’s not about the Money.  It’s about Taking Charge.

 

3. Pay Down Debt:

The debt snowball method is a great  debt reduction strategy where you pay off debts in order of smallest to largest, gaining momentum as each balance is paid off. When the smallest debt is paid in full, you roll the money you were paying on that debt into the next smallest balance.

It looks something like this:
Step 1: List your debts from smallest to largest.
Step 2: Make minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest.
Step 3: Pay as much as possible on your smallest debt.
Step 4: Repeat until each debt is paid in full.

 

4. Eliminate wasteful spending

The most obvious wasteful spending for me was a storage locker I was paying nearly $100 a month for.  It made me so angry that I eventually began this journey and started writing this personal finance blog.

Use the old maxim, A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.” and realize when you go through your bills that every wasteful thing that you have spent money on in the past that you don’t really enjoy, is earned money.

Don’t dwell on the money that you have wasted in the past.  Focus on your debt free future.  I was paying for auto renew memberships that I didn’t even remember.  Never again.

I began to explore our current consumer culture and why we buy what we buy.  This helped me understand why I was spending so much money shopping.  More on Consumer Culture here.

 

5. Negotiate Discounts:

For those services and memberships that you like but would like to pay less for, you need to contact the merchants and ask for a discount.  Yes, you can do it.  And yes they will give you discounts on your memberships:  Cell phone carrier, cable company, Satellite radio etc…  I have written a whole post about How to negotiate Discounts.

 

6.  Create an Emergency Fund: 

It’s easy to fall into debt when unplanned emergencies happen.  Unfortunately, life is full of unplanned emergencies.  That is why you need to set aside an emergency fund of at least $1,000 to start.  I have written an article on why and emergency fund is so important,  An Emergency fund is an umbrella for your life.

 

7. Increase your Income: 

For most people it’s time to increase your income.  When I got really motivated to pay down my debt, I wrote financial articles for a financial blog and created this blog.  Want to start a blog?  Read 7 Rules for a Profitable Blog here.

Side Hustles:

You may want to find a side hustle or side income.  I’ve written a number of posts about the best ways to increase income.

45 Ways to Boost your Income is one example.

11 Best Sources of Side Income for 2018

Cash surveys

 

8. Stay Motivated:  I found reading the book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey to be incredibly helpful.  Yes, it lays out the framework he used to be become debt free.

But, the big benefit of the book is it gets you fired up to get out of debt.  It is very motivational.  And that is really helpful on the debt free journey.   More about the Total Money Makeover here.

 

Ray Krok Success Quote

 

9.  Keep Making Progress:

I was amazed at how much money gets through the cracks.  In reviewing my credit card bills, I realized I was paying for all of these items that gave me no value.

  • multiple anti-virus recurring charges,
  • membership to a sporting goods VIP club I didn’t remember,
  • delivery charges every month
  • an expensive storage unit
  • bank fees

These are all credit card charges that gave me no value, but I was paying for.  And I was paying because I was too busy to pay attention.

But, this stops today.  I’m taking control of my money.

When I canceled the VIP club the woman said, “Oh we’re sorry we charged you for our VIP club when you haven’t made a purchase in 3 years.”  Yeah Right.

Here’s the truth:

“Were sorry to see you go because we make so much money off people too busy to pay attention to their credit card bills.”

 

 

Related articles you may enjoy:

How it all began.  What made me say enough.

44 Ways to Create Extra Income

Getting results on your debt free journey

 

Conclusion:

Today I realize it’s not about the money.  It’s about the control.  It’s about knowing that every dollar I make is mine.  No waste. No exceptions.  Nothing lost.

“A part of all I earn is mine to keep.” – The Richest Man in Babylon

Every dollar belongs to me and if I spend it, it’s on something that really adds value to my life.  And that principle is important whether you make $50,000 a year or $500,000 a year.

So, I’ll keep going.

I’m taking control of my money.

 

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Consumerism: Do we even know Why We Want What We Want? 

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consumerism

Financial Freedom

I’m sure you can agree that you can’t begin a debt free journey without starting to re-think your relationship with spending, credit cards, and consumerism.  It’s a worthwhile exercise.

This is an example from my own life.  It’s a good example of consumerism and how it’s possible that we’re piling up debt on credit cards to buy luxury goods we want and don’t even know why.

I have nothing against branding or advertising.  In fact, I have purchased plenty of designer clothes,expensive watches, and attended pricey concerts. 

She was a very pretty girl who was used to getting whatever she wanted.  That much was always clear to me.  She worked as an assistant to a Wall Street executive and was used to having men with huge egos and bank accounts woo her.

She always wanted to have dinner at one of the three most expensive and or hottest restaurants in New York. Nobu and a few others I can’t even remember.  Honestly, at the time, I was ok with all of that.  She was actually very smart and insightful, but her financial expectations became frustrating even then.

Consumerism Definition:  We spend money we don’t have, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t even like.

 

Why do I bring this up?  We were dating during The holidays a few years back and she mentioned she wanted lingerie from La Perla.  Think Victoria’s Secret but with a 700% markup.  I had to research it myself.

I became really interested in this company and brand because I have almost never seen a markup like that for any other product.  Their bras were like $100-$200.

As an investor, I was very intrigued.

  • Why was La Perla so good?
  • Is it the quality?
  • The fabric?
  •  Why is it so much more expensive than every other brand?,”

I asked her.  She was annoyed and defensive and I think she may have even intimated I was being cheap (Me Frugal?).  I was very confused.

 

Relevant Articles:

44 Ways to Create Extra Income

Getting Results: How I Paid Off $17K

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And I quickly realized that she didn’t know what made it the best.  She didn’t know why it was better than other luxury  brands.  All she knew was that her friends would be impressed.  She knew the name and the cost.  And that was all that mattered.  This is the world we live in: consumerism, advertising, and branding.

She didn’t know why she wanted it.  She just did.

 

Value Investing

 

This reminds me of a podcast of The minimalists I just heard where they talked about how Rolex became such a powerful brand.

Apparently, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, men used to go on vacation and dive using Rolex watches.  These were wealthy, rugged, adventurous men who preferred a quality dive watch.  And other men started to buy the watches and it became the huge brand it is today.

But, it is primarily a quality dive watch.

And most men pay a premium for a watch that can safely go to 2,000 meters.  But many of them never use it in the water except, in the shower or a pool.

Rolex makes you feel cool, rugged, adventurous, and wealthy.  But first, they need your $2,500.00

 

The smarter you are the more you realize how powerful advertising, branding, and social influences are in our decisions to spend money.  It’s powerful.

 

Sometimes we don’t even know why we want what we want.




 

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How to Negotiate Discounts on the way to Debtfree

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The goal is to pay down debt, invest, and retire.  Simple, but not easy.

One of the best ways to reduce your spending is to negotiate a lower price on the things you use. Here are some tips on negotiating.

*Affiliate Disclosure:  Some links in this post may contain affiliate links to business partners of mine.  I may be compensated for this arrangement, but the reader pays nothing.  I strive to do business with quality, reputable companies.

The best way to get a discount is to firmly ask for a discount.

People have so many ill conceived ideas about negotiating  The media presents this ridiculous image of an alpha male business executive brow beating someone into getting whatever he wants.  This is pure fiction and makes too many intimidated to simply ask for what they want.

Ask for what you want. Firmly and confidently.

 

Value Investing

 

Ask for what you want.

Did you watch the TV Show, Mad Men?  Mad Men was a very good show about Madison Avenue in the 1960’s.  Here’s why I bring it up:  one of the senior executives is fired and a prime office becomes available.  The office has a dozen alpha male junior executives who all want the office.

But who ends up getting the office?

The most junior person -Peggy Olson- That’s right, the only female copywriter with the least experience gets the office.

Why? She was the only person with the courage to ask for it.

If you can get a 10% discount on many of the items you’re using, then you are that much closer to getting out of debt and investing for your future.

Discounts and Cash Back?  Yes!

Discounts on Online Shopping: 

Make sure you’re getting cash back from online shopping:  I use Ebates and they give me cash back for nearly all of my purchases.  Ebates gets a commission from stores you shop at and they share the commission with you.  Average cash back is about 7%, which is great.

Right now, they are offering a Free $10 Gift Card when you join and spend $25.  More about Ebates Here.

 

Cash surveys

 

 

An example from my own life:  As you know, I’m cutting back on frivolous spending.  So, I’m reviewing my credit card bills for all the monthly subscriptions I receive (there are a lot!).

Anyway, I really like XM Sirius radio in my car, but I would like it a lot more, if it was less expensive.

So, I called them.  I used a simple, honest approach.

I told the woman that I really liked the service, but I’m not sure I can keep getting it because it’s too expensive and I’m cutting back.

What happened?  She offered to cut the fee in half  (from $200/ year to $100).   I had to pay for the year upfront, which I agreed to do.

We both got what we wanted: I got a better deal and her company kept a customer.

Win. Win.

 

Save money on insurance:

One incredibly important way to cut your monthly bills is to compare insurance rates.  Companies are always changing their pricing to gain market share in this area, so it’s always worth it to check to see what competitors insurance rates are.  E-surance is a subsidiary of Allstate and offers very competitive insurance rates.

A few minutes can save you thousands of dollars a year just by being smart.

 

Relevant Articles:

44 Ways to Create Extra Income

Getting Results: How I Paid Off $17K

The Best Personal Finance Books

 

Introverts are good negotiators.

The goal of every negotiation is for both sides to get most of what they want.  That’s why alpha males are not the best negotiators and why research tells us that introverts and shy people are actually good at negotiating.

Why?  Because in order to be a good negotiator, you need to consider things  from the viewpoint of the other side.

When I ask for a 10% discount on a TV, I give the salesperson the ability to get what they want: the ability to tell their boss they made another sale.   Salespeople have credit card bills to pay too and they have pressure to make a sale.  Makes no difference what the product is.

 

 

If you don’t get what you want, walk away.

I’ve been meaning to open a new bank account lately because my bank no longer has any convenient atms near me and I’m NOT paying $6 per withdrawal!  So, I called the closest bank and spoke to them about opening an account.

In order to waive the bank fees

  • they wanted me to keep $7,000 in the account,
  • or a direct deposit every month,
  • or 10 debit card transactions.

Sorry, but no.

See my post on Banks that offer Free Checking here.

I walked away.

 

And last month, the same bank had a promotion for new accounts: they would waive the bank fees for just $1,500 in the new bank account AND they would credit me $250 to open the account.  Bingo.  Now, I’m interested.

 

Conclusion:

 

Negotiating takes a bit of courage, which is a muscle we all need to flex.  And it allows you to have more control over your life.  Which is a feeling we all want.

Ask for what you want.  You’ll be surprised how often you can get it.

 

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Have I gone too far? (I cut pizza out of my budget)

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Yes, I cut Pizza form my Budget

 

 Have I gone Too Far?

The first step in getting out of debt is to figure out where your money is going.  I learned a lot when I reviewed my spending last year. It was a bit depressing, but at least I learned how I was wasting my money.

I wanted to take control.  If I spent money on something, I wanted to get value from it.

So, when I reviewed my credit card statement,  I noticed that I spent a lot on pizza deliveries.  Each large pizza was about $23-$25 depending on whether I had a deal, coupon code, or special offer.

I almost always use a coupon code from Ebates and get cash back from my online purchases. More about Ebates Here.  However, pizza delivery is not usually a cash back item.

Either way, it’s a lot for a pizza when you compare it to a pretty good pizza I can buy frozen. It’s an extra $15-17 each time I order delivery pizza. And most of the extra cost is delivery fees.

So, I started buying store bought pizza and I’m saving about $51 each month ($17 savings 3 X per month).

 



 

 

Is it a huge savings?  Not really.  But right now, I’m fired up.  And I want my car payment to go away.  And I’m kind of sick of being ripped off.

Why is the delivery pizza so expensive?  There’s a $4 delivery fee and taxes plus I give the driver a tip.   I don’t know how much of the delivery fee that he/she gets to keep.  I like to tip people who work hard.  But, I would prefer to keep my money.  Delivery pizza is not that great.  And it takes much longer.

 

Related Articles:

44 Best Side Hustles To Make Money Now

 

The key to this process is to align where you’re spending your money with your values.

  • What do you value?
  • What is really adding value in your life?

For some people, cutting the cord on cable is a great way to save money.  For others, that would be crazy.  As long as you’re getting value, then it makes sense.

 

Relevant Articles:

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What doesn’t make sense is spending money for a service without actually getting value.  I was paying over $100 a month for a storage locker.  That is a great example of an item that was adding zero value in my life.  Yet, here I was spending money month after month for this service.  Until I woke up and said, “No More.”

Bottom line- right now I’d rather be a little closer to paying off the car and being out of debt than pay $100 this month for pizza.  Also, I tend to eat too much of the delivery pizza because it’s better than the store kind.  So, this should help my waistline a bit too.

Maybe I’ve gone too far.  I’m fired up and focused on the paying off my debt. I’m seeing all the stuff I purchased over the last 15 years that added very little value to my life and I’m done spending money that doesn’t add value or make me really happy.

 

 

Please share your comments!

 

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Can I Buy a House: 5 Questions You Need to Answer

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Am I financially ready to Buy a House?

We can all agree that buying a house is a very important financial decision.  So, before you call your realtor or think about a mortgage, or even interest rates,  let’s discuss some of the important questions to consider when buying a house.   Can I Buy a House?

In this post, I will outline the 5 questions that will improve your chances of making a successful move into home ownership.  These home buying tips are a guideline that will prevent you from becoming house poor and drowning in a house payment you can’t afford.

House poor is a situation that describes a person who spends a large proportion of his or her total income on home ownership, including mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance and utilities.

Let me be honest, these questions might annoy you.  But, whether or not you can buy a house really depends on the answers.  So, let’s begin.

 

Value Investing

 

I believe in a few guidelines for buying a house:

  1. Are you going to live in the area for 7 years?

  2. Can you afford a 20% down payment on the house?

  3. Can you afford to pay off the mortgage within 15 years?

  4. Is the cost of the home at or below 25% of your income?

 

Now, how do you feel about those questions?

If you’re annoyed with me, you might have House fever.  A house should be a blessing and if a home mortgage is too expensive for your budget, it can become a huge burden and become incredibly stressful on a family and on a marriage.

I get it: Real estate in many cities is very expensive: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and New York etc… Home prices are incredibly high due to low interest rates.

 

I don’t expect real estate returns to outpace the returns available in the stock market.  So, having a huge portion of your income going to housing as an asset is not recommended.

If you can meet the criteria I described above, then a mortgage won’t be a huge burden and you can also save for retirement and meet other financial goals like funding your kids college education.

But if you can’t, you are at risk of having too much invested in a home you may not be able to afford right now.  It may require more savings or even increasing your income.

In addition, once in a new home, many people wind up spending to upgrade the house, buy new furniture, etc…  And these additional expenditures can prevent you from paying down debt and being able to afford to save for retirement.  I am in favor of home ownership and realize that it is difficult in many expensive cities.

However, I am in favor of doing it the right way.

 

Relevant Articles:

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Getting Results: How I Paid Off $17K

The Best Personal Finance Books

 

I believe one should minimize debt before buying a house.  Getting out of debt and saving for a down payment are good exercises to get one started towards buying a house, condo, co-op, or any real estate.

I grew up in a medium size city outside of New York.  The economy has struggled.  The real estate market did not beat inflation.  Real estate was not a good investment for my parents or my friend’s parents.

If you didn’t allocate portions of your capital to other investments, businesses, real estate, and the stock market, then you are not in a good position financially solely due to your home.  This is not what that generation was told.  And it has been sad to watch many people struggle financially who did what they were told.

I believe in buying a home, but as a portion of an overall investment strategy.

Rent or Buy: For me personally, I’ve moved extensively in my life and have not owned a home.  I have done well in my investments – mostly in the stock market.  It does bother me at times when I pay rent, but it’s not a dollar to dollar comparison.  In order to purchase a home, I would need to allocate 20% to a down payment and then it would be a dollar to dollar comparison between rent vs. owning.  Also, I am not convinced I will stay in this city for the next 7 years.  So, I am following the same rules on, Can I buy a home.

 

 

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Every time I bought an expensive watch this happened

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I’ve only bought two really nice expensive watches.  One was a Rolex and the other was a Bulgari.  Each was purchased to celebrate a financial “win.”  

(Don’t tell daveramsey.)

And each time, shortly after my financial “win” came a drought.  The first time I went from a steady job into a new venture.  I went from a steady, reliable income to an unreliable income and lots of financial stress.  

The second time was after a fund that I was managing had a great year of out performance. This would allow me to grow my assets under management and bring in many new clients I thought.  It wasn’t that easy as it turned out.  

Each time, instead of creating a buffer for myself (i.e. an emergency fund or stability fund), I was in need for income shortly after splurging on something I decided I deserved.  

Work hard and reward yourself.  That’s the way it was.

I was doing really well and needed to show it.  I think this is pretty common for men of a certain age, and it probably applies to women too.  Perhaps a certain piece of jewelry or expensive bag or purse.  

The truth is over time we change.  Our tastes change.  Do I love these watches the way I used to?  Not really.  My favorite watch is a bright yellow sport watch I wear on weekends.  It cost $50.  

And the truth about the expensive ones is that you worry about them.  I keep them in a watch winder.  I worry about them when I travel.  They’re expensive and valuable.  Except if I wanted to sell them, I would be disappointed in their real value.  

If my business has another great year, I’m unlikely to get a new Rolex or Breitling.  Am I becoming wiser as I age?  Or have I finally appreciated the value of things?  

We work hard and we want to reward ourselves.  We want to show our successes.  

I’m a big fan of cash right now.  Cash always gives you options.  

What are your thoughts 👍

How It All began- Life After Debt

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What made me begin this debt-free Journey?

In one of my favorite books on personal finance, there is a quote that reads, “A part of all you earn is yours to keep.”  It is true.  It is wise.  But it only applies if you have a budget and decide to keep a part of what you earn.

Otherwise, all that you earn goes to consumer purchases, credit card debt, student loans, and new restaurants.   At some point, it becomes necessary to take back control of your money.  In this post and in this blog, there are lessons that I learned the hard way.  Learn from my mistakes and advice.

 

*Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.  Business partners may compensate me for inclusion on this blog, but I strive to only partner with quality businesses and the reader pays nothing.

 

Life after Debt:  How it all began

 

I had had Enough

It wasn’t a huge bill.  It was $162.  The storage place I had been using decided that I wasn’t paying Enough.  It wasn’t a big deal when I started renting my storage unit.  It was less than $100.  I believe it was $97.

And here I was staring at a letter from them explaining that $162 for a storage locker seemed fair to them now.

$162 for a storage locker?  Now, mind you I had never even visited my “stuff” at this place.  It just sat there.  And every month on my credit card bill I paid $97 because that’s the way things are.  What else could I do?  And this wasn’t nice stuff or expensive stuff.  It was yearbooks, photos, baseball cards.  The stuff you accumulate in a life of accumulating stuff.  I tried to negotiate, but they explained that they were more expensive than other storage places because they have air conditioning for my stuff.  My stuff got the first class treatment.  I felt even worse.

I admit I kinda snapped.

Not immediately.  But in November around Thanksgiving after listening to one too many Dave Ramsey podcasts, I just said no more.

No negotiating.  Not a lower rate.  Zero.  Zilch.  NADA.  I WAS DONE.

I wasn’t paying another dime to these folks.  It was lazy and stupid and wasteful.  My baseball card collection at best was worth $2,000.  So, a year in this place cost me $1,944.  No Way.  No more.  I took a bunch of garbage bags and cut everything down in half and threw it out.  And took 6 boxes home with me that night.  The next morning I cleaned out the last 6 boxes and ended my contract.

Savings: $1,944

Frugal tip:  when you show up with bags and take boxes home, they will negotiate.  More tips and strategies on negotiating discounts.

For me, it was way too late.  I was done.

 

 

It was amazing.  I felt so great.  My expenses were in my control.  Every penny that goes out on my credit card bill was under my control.  I wasn’t paying another dime unless it was something that was actually adding value to my life.  I started cutting back and creating a budget.

 

Related Posts:

How I paid off $17K in Debt

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I have a few extra boxes in my home from cleaning out the storage locker and will try to reduce and sell off these items on Ebay. Tips on how to create fast cash on Ebay here.

I’m on a bit of a minimalist kick right now anyway, so having fewer items in my life is fine for now.  Less clutter.  More space.  More financial freedom.

That’s what got me started. And from there I paid off $17K in debt in one year.

How did I do it?

 

So, here we go.  Thank you for being part of this journey

 

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