Q: You really should consider posting about how you two budget and save for your purchases and DIY. I’m constantly amazed at how you seem to never charge anything and how you consistently mention saving up for things. Now just tell us how you do it!! What about making the decision to replace something that still works? Is that a hard call for you guys? I never know when to live with something, replace it with something semi-cheap for the interim or save up for the big thing I actually want and go right to buying that instead of putting money towards a placeholder while I save. I’d love to know more about how you know when to save and when to splurge and how you live such a debt free life full of projects and home makeovers! -Barbara
A: First and foremost, John and I are super lucky to each come from families with famously frugal dads. So we both learned all about saving up for things, paying off our entire credit card balance, and never buying anything that we can’t afford on the day that we buy it. Of course it takes a decent amount of discipline (and it means that we’re constantly walking away from great deals & lovely things), but if we can’t afford them they’re not such good deals after all. So to honor our dads, we thought we’d post embarrassing old photos of them. Notice John’s dad’s tie- it was a Father’s Day gift John made using puffy paint… proof that paint doesn’t always make something better.
It’s funny because a lot of our stuff falls into the “simple and affordable” category (our dining table was around $150 from Target and we have a $25 thrift store chair in our den and a $30 consignment shop coffee table in the living room). So that really helps us keep money in the bank. We don’t believe in buying chintzy low-quality stuff to save a quick buck, but if there’s a chunky wood dining table at target.com with good reviews for a third as much as the one on potterybarn.com, we’re likely to go for the thrifty Tar-jay version (we’ve had our current dining table over three years and haven’t had one complaint yet).
But although we usually shop around for the best deal (and read reviews to be sure we’re not seduced by a lemon), every once in a while we do fall in love with the notion of something pricey and save for it like crazy (like our plush organic mattress or the new 2009 Altima that we saved for over the course of the past few years and then paid for in full on the day we drove it off the lot). But more on that a bit later. Basically, the key to our financial approach really is just to hold out for sales, use coupons, shop around, and aim for affordable items to mostly fill our home- and then devote a sliver of our savings to spendy stuff here or there (so we don’t feel totally deprived but also don’t drain all that money that we saved up overnight either).
Oh and living in Richmond helps! The cost of living is waaaay lower than it was in Manhattan, so years of dealing with those insanely inflated expenses makes it seem a lot easier to cut costs and save money here (since our mortgage is half of what we used to pay to rent two tiny NYC apartments). Our house was also completely affordable since it was a total fixer-upper (as in: less than 200K, you guys have seen the befores!). So we knew we could afford to put money towards fixing it up since we didn’t spend it all up front by purchasing a newly renovated casa to come home to (and since our monthly mortgage payment is a lot lower than it would have been for an already gorgeous new home in the area).
We also try to be frugal in other ways like by sharing a car, getting books from the library, making our own bagged lunches, and DIYing whatever we can (from tiling to haircuts) instead of paying an expert (you’ll see some links to other how-we-save-money posts at the bottom of this one). It’s not always glamorous, but the old a-penny-saved-is-a-penny-earned adage really rings true to us. So instead of making lots of money and spending it just as quickly, we choose to do what we love- aka: blogging- but live comfortably on less with a few simple switcheroos like haircuts at home and one dollar spaghetti dinners.
As for what we do when it comes to replacing something that works but still bothers us (like a functional old fridge that’s big and yellowed and probably not terribly energy efficient) we just save our pennies up if it truly makes us cringe. Once we have enough to actually afford a new one without putting it on a credit card that we won’t be able to pay off right away (which makes us feel so guilty that we wouldn’t enjoy the spurge) we go for it. Oh and we always sell the working thing that we’ll be replacing on Craigslist so we don’t send it off to a landfill. Plus then we get a bit of money for it (which we can mentally put towards our upgraded version, so it feels even more affordable in the long run).
We’ve learned that in our case it’s never smart to buy something cheap for the interim just to tide us over because we end up hating the fact that we spent money on something that’s just a placeholder for the real thing that we want (and we would rather have waited and put our money towards the forever-item instead of some temporary solution). This is a personal thing though, so if replacing your cringeworthy chandelier with a $50 version from Home Depot will help tide you over while you save for the $250 beauty that you’ll love forever, then it might be the best approach for you. Just think about what makes you happy and what you can honestly afford and try to weigh the pros and cons to come up with a plan that feels right for your situation.
We also always talk a lot before taking on a major room makeover to be sure that we’re both on the same page about how much we’ll spend. For example, after a lot of chatting and number crunching we guessed that we’d spend 3-5K on the bathroom remodel- and were totally surprised when we got it done for $1800 by doing all the labor ourselves and hunting down some amazing deals. So in the case of the big bathroom reno, we saved our pennies until we had 5K sitting there in our high yield savings account and ended up super happy to just spend the 1800- which meant we could move on to our nursery makeover with extra funds already on hand… which is always a bonus!
We actually find that we overestimate things a lot more often than we go over our budget- which we’re very thankful for- but we still like to save up all the money and make sure it’s in the bank just in case we don’t come in under budget (it would be super stressful if we only saved two thirds of what we needed for a project just because we assumed we were overestimating again). Oh and there’s a bonus to having our renovation dollars in the bank before we start. We’ve found that it takes a lot of stress and anxiety out of the equation, so the project is a lot more fun.
Take the nursery makeover for example, we went into it thinking that we’d spend around $1500 since we needed totally new furniture and accessories (like a crib, mattress, dresser, chair, ottoman, rug, curtains, chandelier, lamp, art, etc). But thanks to some deal hunting we’ve actually done everything from scoring a $20 thrift store chair and a $20 Craigslist dresser to hunting down a clearance rug and chandelier- which makes us confident that we’ll get ‘er done without reaching or exceeding our budget. Who knows, we might just come in substantially under if we’re lucky. It really does pay to spend the time pounding the pavement for the best deals and trolling places like Craigslist for solid well made furniture that you can refinish (a lot of which is much better quality than the cheap stuff that companies churn out today). See how the Craigslist dresser below turned out after we made it over with some stain, some paint, and some elbow grease.
All told, we probably spend between five and ten percent of our total income on home improvements (not bad considering that we’re pretty much constantly painting something or pulling up at Home Depot). But that’s just a rough approximation and it’s a really personal thing so each family should look at their bank account and their house to figure out what budget and home improvement priorities are the most important to them. Plus it’s kind of our job now (since I’m a full time home blogger we need to constantly take on projects to sustain our site). So because it’s such a high priority in our life, we go out of our way to save a lot of money in other areas, like by having just one car that’s fully paid off.
We drove a ten year old Maxima for four years with over 170,000 miles on it until we could save enough cash to fully pay for a safer-for-the-baby 2009 Altima, which we did a few months ago (yeah, that was a fun day). So making sacrifices and cutting costs in other areas has allowed us to save money which we use to pay things off completely (instead of continually laying out cash each month for a car payment or a credit card bill that we just can’t squash). And of course we do save a bundle on the transportation front by making the decision to be a one car household, so we can save all the money that might otherwise go towards purchasing, insuring and gassing up a second car.
We know the way that we save and pay things off is rare. And we know that there are probably people reading this post who have no idea how on earth two people like us could save up for renos before we do them or pay off a new car the day they drive it off the lot (hint: it’s not because we make a lot of money- in fact by national averages we fall way below the average income level, even in our area). So we’ll share this factoid about our spending habits. We’re insanely frugal in many areas where other “normal” people are not. A nice meal out for us is a once monthly trip to Chipotle. We probably spend about $10 a month on clothing (combined, and some months it’s zero). In fact I’ve spent less than $20 on my entire maternity wardrobe (thanks to generous friends and family members who have passed their leftovers my way). We’ve even begun to make our own cleaning products to save more money in that area and we already mentioned that we give each other haircuts instead of paying a professional.
So before you think it’s totally impossible to save a few hundred dollars a month towards some big reno goal or some dream furnishings that you’ve had your eye on, consider whether you can cut anything out at all (from that Starbucks coffee to that monthly haircut). And if you want to save even more, try going a whole month without buying clothing or going out to eat. All of a sudden you’ll see that it’s not that hard to save money once you really decide to make a major change. Heck, you can even downgrade from two cars to one (and start carpooling or riding your bike). Or you can even sell your expensive vehicle for something a bit older with more miles on it (trading car glamour for house glamour isn’t a foreign concept to us since we drove our last car into the ground and sold it to Carmax with nearly 200,000 miles on it when we finally had enough saved up to replace it).
In general our advice is just never to spend beyond your means and to take the time to save for items and projects that are truly important to you… instead of frittering away funds by grabbing a bunch of cheap accessories (but they’re on sale!) that you don’t need every time you walk into a store. Resist the urge! Really, if we don’t have the money in savings that we’re talking about spending then we just don’t spend it. Instead we use paint and other items that we already have around the house for some free mini makeovers to tide us over. And we’re always sure to take our time hunting down the best deals while our savings account grows (even doing things like hosting a garage sale or selling unnecessary items on Craigslist to make money to put towards our latest goal). And it seems to work for us- so we certainly hope that it does for you guys as well. Happy saving (and smart spending) to you and yours!
Oh and we’d love to hear how you save your pennies (any envelope system peeps out there?) or how you live well on less income. Share and share alike!
Pssst- To learn more about how we pinch pennies here at Casa Petersik check out our Save It series (read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here) and find even more money saving ideas right here. Oh and this post about living with less (along with this one and this one) might help too.
Natalia says
Great post! Very encouraging. We also love Dave Ramsey and suggest you check him out sometimes, we also use a site called mvelopes.com that is great for budgeting!
I will say that I don’t know how you live with only 1 car though, that would be tough for most people who both work and who have multiple kids. You’ll see once beanette is in activities and your driving her around town ;)
Your kids are lucky to have such great financial role models for them!
Emmary Roemer says
LOVE this post. We have always been a very frugal family. I have found it much more difficult as each child has blessed our lives. We are expecting #3 now and know the challenge will grow. How will you handle not having a car when you are at home with the baby? Do you have family close by? I know I would go crazy if I couldn’t get out of the house during the day for play groups, library time, etc.
We have used the Financial Peace Program to guide us in our spending. We really have to stick to this because 10% of our income (which is almost one because I stay at home and work very part time as an adjunct professor) goes to our tithe at our church. It truly is amazing to see how we are blessed by giving. I would encourage others to check out Financial Peace with Dave Ramsey. We are all called to a higher purpose. It gives meaning to life, rather than chasing things.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Emmary,
Good question! John will be taking a nice long paternity leave so we’ll both be home with the car and the bean for a while. And once he goes back to work we’ll probably just play it by ear (since some days a friend or family member will visit so he can take the car, while other days he can carpool with his sister who drives right by our house and also works downtown). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Emily says
just one more reason why yhl is my favorite blog! :) i really appreciate this post and couldn’t agree more! my husband and i will be debt free this July. We will have paid off 30K in credit card, car, and school debt in 12 months!!! We’re thrilled. We’ve become big Dave ramsey fans and are an envelope-toting, cash only couple! Thanks for using the influence you have to inspire others to live fiscally responsible! Admire you both!
Sandy says
What I like about not eating out regularly is that not only are you reducing your expences, but when you do go out your enjoy it that much more and you savour the occasion. What we do sometimes is instead of dining in the restaurant, we buy take out a bottle of wine and sit alond the waterfront enjoying our meal and the view and ambiance. It becomes quite a nice evening out on balmy summer evenings.
Kate says
LOVE your post… how refreshing! I posted it on my facebook so that all could read! We are “Dave Ramsey graduates” and use a cash envelope system. We’ve always been frugal and savers, but the class did truly change our lives. We’re currently saving for new kitchen appliances and a kitchen makeover! Can’t wait! KEEP IT UP!! You guys are so inspiring!
Elizabeth G says
We use the envelope system. When the money in our envelope runs out, that’s it for that month. It was kind of difficult at first, but after we started being diligent about writing down our purchases, it got so much easier. Neither my husband or I have ever had a credit card and we don’t buy things unless we can pay cash for them. I’m a full time student and he farms so money gets pretty tight, but this system really helps keep track of where our money goes.
Heidi H. says
Ohhh, I love this post. Both my hubby & I come from parents who taught us that credit card debt was a no-no. It’s been some of the best advice we’ve ever recieved as we married uber young (18-21) & had no money to speak of for anything BUT bills.
Even before we married we decided a few things, like when we had kids, I’d stay home full-time & we’d just accept the paycut. Some people have questioned this decision (like my boss– I got a fierce side-eye when I said I wouldn’t be returning after I gave birth) but both my hubby & I have never regretted our choice. Yes, we’ve been poor with a capital P at times because of it, but we’ve counted ourselves rich in the things exchanged for the extra paycheck like more time with our kiddos.
Like y’all, we’ve only ever had one car. We were rockin’ a ’76 Ford F150 for a couple of years there until we could afford to upgrade (in cash) to a newer used car. There have been times when it’s been a hassel to have only one car, but we work it out & nothing beats not having a car payment to deal with!
Last December, my husband was laid off from his job (thank you, economy) & we made the choice to take that as one door closing, another opening, & Ed went back to school as a full-time student to complete his degree. If we thought we were living tight before that, we redefined that expression by shrinking our income by major percentages. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a little too tight at times, but we’re determined to finish what we started. There are very difficult times when we feel like we’ve been sucking it in for so long that we need to take a breath, but things like redecorating our tiny apartment mainly on money Ive made from selling our old furniture on craigslist helps, mucho, mucho.
We’re not yet as united & smooth in out finances as y’all, so I’m SUPER grateful for this post– what a GREAT example! I can’t say how glad I was to read that y’all do it debt free. It made your beautiful house all the more lovely in my eyes. There’s nothing like knowing you own something outright, is there? Oh, & yes! We’ve totally done the envelope system & my in-laws use it religiously!
Much love!
Em says
Loved this post!
Just curious, I have to know which item of maternity clothing did you actually spend the $20 on?
YoungHouseLove says
On sale maternity jeans from Old Navy with a full belly panel (and I’ve lived in them nearly every day for the last seven months!).
xo,
s
Caroline says
I really loved this post, and your approach to things. The word that stood out to me the most was discipline, because that is really what this is all about. Saving is easy in principle – just spend less than you make. How you do that is up to you. My husband and I’s only debt is our mortgage, and we save over 10% of our income every month – and I am really proud of that, because it took a lot of work to get there.
Now matter how you do it, being financially responsible takes honesty with yourself, and most importantly discipline. There are a lot of people that need to read this post and take it to heart.
kristine says
awesome post. i’m moving in with my boyfriend when his lease is up but he is really good at saving up for things and i’m thrifty although not a huge saver. i’m trying to learn a few things before we move in together so it’s not a total disaster. this was really helpful. thank you!
Anna, Sydney says
I cannot believe how nosey we are, hahaha. :) You guys are so generous with how you share everything. You know we ask because we so admire you and the way you live and discipline yourselves. Very pleased to see most visitors also appreciate your generosity. Also love how THEY in their turn share what they do.
This was another great post (and great question Barbara). Love what you’re doing!
Dana @ House*Tweaking says
This post hits a high note with us! We ALWAYS pay up front for big purchases…plus a lot of times you’ll find that you have more bargaining room when you have CASH in your pocket. You can usually save 10% by offering to pay in cash for big projects/purchases/labor. We also hold out until the last minute to buy groceries. Living on leftovers may not sound exciting but it really saves $$! And as for our young kiddos, we usually find their necessities (and unnecessities) from secondhand sources: Goodwill toys, hand-me-down clothing, Craigslist bikes. Since we have two boys, the only $$ we really spend on #2 has been for diapers and food! We saved it all from the first and just bring it out when it’s age appropriate. #2 thinks it’s all new and #1 gets to revisit some of his favorite shirts, toys and books.
Briel K. says
Great post S & J! I am super impressed that you saved up to pay for your car in cash! Amazing! I am totally with you on the no debt thing. I hate having a balance on my credit cards so I pay them off as soon as possible. I usually won’t use them unless I know I can pay them off right away. I also got an ING account a few years ago and that has been really helpful with saving for big ticket items (though the interest rate isn’t that great right now). I used it to save for my MacBook and over the course of the last 18 months I saved almost $8000 for a trip to Europe! I’m going in June and I can’t wait! It will be my first time.
I’m still pretty bad about spending when it comes to groceries, Target (evil!), Books and DVD’s (weakness!), and eating out for lunch a couple times a week sometimes but I’m trying to be better. Imagine how much more I could save if I cut down on some of those things!
joan says
obviously this topic has struck a chord with your readers – what great tips everyone has to save $$ too! i was really touched by your story as I had always assumed you were just thrifty for fun and not out of necessity ;)
your good saving habits will help you when you have a baby. save now because as much as diapers cost, it’s nothing compared to child care, ice hockey etc!!! my 13 year old plays hockey and out here in california that’s expensive and involves lots of driving ;) i used to have a minimum wage job and the after school care cost 1/3 of my wages!
we had our son a few months out of high school so we never quite got into saving. or spending for that matter, until we were lucky enough to buy a condo. but you are so right to avoid credit card debt – it causes so much anxiety, marital drama, and the objects purchased do not bring happiness. it’s much better to have money in the bank ready for the time when you have to go on unemployment or pay for your kids college. i’m on a super budget right now – but i’m looking forward to the day when we can buy some big necessary purchases and do it with cash!
micha b says
I love this. THANK YOU for sharing. Much of what you described resonates with my own approaches to life management. My dad always told me that real freedom was not oweing anything to anyone else. At the time we had that conversation, he had enough savings to write a check for the balance of his mortgage if the need was ever there. I’m painfully aware of the many blessings that have come to my life from HIS decision to live within his means and save. As a result, I live simply; pay myself first, never carry a balance on a credit card, pay cash.
A saying I’m particularly keen on says “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
I’m at peace with my life and the simplicity of it with no debt. That peace truly is the best reward imaginable.
Stephanie @ Geezees says
Way to go guys!! This is such a great post! I think it’s great that you guys save money the way you do. I love that the once a month you guys do go out to eat you go to Chipolte, i love that place too.
We have been trying to save money here and there too. Instead of ordering movies that can go for $5.00 a pop on ON Demand, we just recently brought Netflix, and for 13.99 a month we can watch as much as we want.
Stephanie @ Geezees says
Way to go guys!! I think it’s wonderful that you guys saved money to buy for the car you want.
We have been trying to save money too, something as simple as using Netflix to watch our movies, instead of ordering a movie on On Demand for $5.00 a pop.
Lotte says
Hi Sherry and John,
I only recently discovered your blog and love it so much that I dedicated a post to it on my own blog (just starting up) at http://nutmeggirl.blogspot.com/. Hope that’s okay! Of course I linked back to y’all. Love your remodeling and way of thinking! And congrats on your pregnancy!
love
-Lotte
Laura says
I pride myself as being a frugal fannie and I love how you do it with such grace and style. It definitely motivates me to stay on track. Thank you! One question I have for you, Can you get a deduction on your taxes for the items you purchase and then present on your blog? I mean technically isn’t this a small business for you? There may be not tax laws about it yet, but it may be worth asking an accountant. Just curious.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
We have a fantastic accountant (some things you just have to pay for when things are as complicated as running your own business) and while he has explained that we can write off a number of blog related expenses (like the hosting fees that we pay for this site or the envelopes that we purchase to ship our shop purchases) we still can’t write off DIY project expenses since we’re using them to add value to our house (which isn’t our office, it’s our primary residence). Bummer, eh? But we’re still just happy to be putting money into something that gains value and can give us a return sometime (as opposed to spending it on food or something else that never “pays you back.” Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Amanda RIC says
No S, I didn’t see you guys chowing on non Starbucks banana bread but what made me notice you guys was my friend Emily said, “Wow, they are some happy people this morning.” I looked up and I saw you and thought, “Where do I know her from?” Then a lightbulb went off and I tried not to seem like a stalker.
You seem like you have a great family.
BTW: My friend Emily and I have a Mommy Only walking and bitching group on Saturday mornings. We walk about 5 miles, talking the whole way. It is cheaper than therapy and makes us both very sane and adjusted moms. If you would ever like to join us….
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amanda,
Ooh I love walking and talking. Seriously that’s my idea of a good time. I might just take you up on that Mommy Only walking group offer after the beanette arrives…
xo,
s
Heidi says
I really wanted to love this post like everyone else but I have to say that I’m just not as disciplined as you two. Now that I’m in my late 30s I don’t mind paying for a haircut that makes me feel good. At this age I can’t get away with a ponytail and jeans every day. And really,it is ok to splurge (guilt-free) every once in a while on a nice meal at a good restaurant with friends (and even hiring a babysitter!) or buy a classic piece of clothing (gasp! full price! the horror!) if it is going to last you 20+ years. I truly appreciate your very hard work to live in your budget and share your ideas in a public forum. As a nation we all need to save more and recycle more. My family stays in our budget, but life is a little more fun when you don’t have to save up for 5 years to go on vacation. Life is too short. I think if you don’t make a habit of splurging or blowing your monthly budget that it’s ok to spend once in a while. Your post just, to me, came across as little too severe. Sorry, had to get that off my chest since last night (I am a fairly regular reader).
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Heidi,
Thanks for your comment. Our blog is really all about sharing what what’s going on in our house and our life (from paint color choices to the ways we save money) and we certainly understand that every reader won’t agree with us about every post (or paint color or accessory) that we share! We definitely acknowledge that we’re a rare breed to be such cheap-os in certain areas, and we do agree with you that splurges are definitely good to keep you sane (hence our saving up for an organic mattress or a new car when we know they’re what we really want). It truly feels amazing to accomplish those goals and acquire what we love- and we can totally see how a haircut or a nice pair of designer jeans can make someone else feel just as good! And it’s not that we’re passing judgment on anyone else who spends money in a different way, we’re just responding to an email question about how we do things around Casa Petersik. To each his own!
xo,
s
Jaimie says
What I love most about this post is that you make it clear that frugality doesn’t exclude people from beauty, elegance, and the ‘finer things in life.’ It might take you a little longer to get them, but you really appreciate them when you do! Sometimes the word frugality conjures up a bad mental image of dreary, cheerless meals and homes with no creature comforts at all, and you’ve proven that definitely doesn’t have to be the case.
Kim says
Oh and I disagree with Heidi’s comment that you’re being too severe. Everyone places importance on different things. If a free haircut floats your boat then by all means go for it (my hubby does his own hair as well as our 3 boys). I was mostly shocked at how frugal you are with haircuts/clothes b/c you both look so nice and well-groomed.
Amy says
Neither of us have credit cards so that instantly saves us a lot of worry right there. Usually at the end of a pay period I take what’s left in my account after paying bills and what not and throw it in my savings account.
Garry also is a property manager (which cut our rent in half).
Once a week we do “noodle night” where we eat Ramen noodles and watch movies. It sounds dorky, but it saves on the grocery bill.
We make our own laundry detergent since it’s ridiculously expensive and a year ago we bought a little mini washing machine for $200 and bought a few drying racks. We’ve definitely made our money back and then some from not going to the laundromat.
We also trade services with friends. We have friends that are hair dressers, wine makers, carpenters (etc) so we use that wisely. I haven’t paid for a hair cut in over 8 months.
We’re also thinking of going “one car” for part of the year (during the warmer months here) and getting a little moped for me to go to drive to work. Since we live in an area that gets a LOT of snow, we need something with 4-wheel drive unfortunately.
We don’t save a *ton* of money, (about $500 a month) but it’s allowing us to save up for a house. We’re hoping in about 4 years we can put a sizeable down payment on something nice.
Stephanie says
You are right on the money! (No pun intended :) ). In this day of high credit card balances and “keeping up with the whoevers” it is great to see you are so grounded. My DH and I are grounded too. We talk about things to the nth degree before buying and make sure that we can pay for it outright. We are also big savers and are instilling this skill into our kids as well. If only I could get the confindence to become a “do-it-yourselfer.”
Gayle says
I love this post on living frugally and saving money. I am a fan of Dave Ramsey and have used his Baby Step program and envelope system. Over the last year or so I have been able to discontinue using the envelopes (now that I have it figured out) but still try to buy only with cash. Thanks for the tips. I read all your previous entries on saving money and found some helpful ideas.
teresa says
We started on the Dave Ramsey plan about 1yr4months ago. We’ve paid off about 55% of our debt (not including the house). We try to save for project that can’t be put off so we can pay for in cash too.
I like how adventures you both are on the DIY projects. Our house is a fixer upper but my husband is afraid to do anything himself. He thinks it will make it worst but it cost a ton to hire ppl. We are trying to save for a new bathroom now. I think we could do it ourselves. How do yall prepare for new projects?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Teresa,
Here’s a post all about how we prepare for projects and make sure we know what we’re doing (and when to call in an expert if we need one): https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/12/email-answer-diy-damage/
xo,
s
Nancy says
All great tips, but nobody has mentioned the “Dad” pictures…and maybe you’re all too young, but doesn’t John’s dad look like Bernie Kopell, the doctor from The Love Boat?? Uncanny!
Take a look…
http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/TheLoveBoat_S1V1.jpg
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh that’s too funny! I’m calling John right now to tell him to click that link!
xo,
s
Kim says
Sherry, I love your blog and you have a lot of great advice on here. I have bookmarked many posts for future use and have used a few of your techniques already.
I have to say concerning student loans that those with an advanced degree are just going to have student loans. While I believe it is possible to graduate debt free with a bachelors I just don’t think it’s possible to do that for an advanced degree (unless you come from money and have generous parents). My husband and I paid for our bachelors by ourselves and graduated debt free (scholarships helped). However, after his masters and then law school we too have mounting student debt (keep in mind that for many advanced degrees you’re not allowed to work while obtaining that degree or you could get kicked out of the program).
I know a lot of your readers have also mentioned this debt, and when that debt is equivelant to your mortgage it’s easy to see the stress that comes along with it. I think the best thing you can do is be frugal so that eventually you can pay those debts off quickly, but you won’t be able to pay them off quickly right away. All of my frugal dr./dentist/lawyer friends paid off their debts in half the time by making double payments as soon as they were able (typically 5-8 years out). Some of the partners at my husband’s firm paid their student loans off the year they became partner(8 years out). I don’t know if this helps, but it helps me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks again for all of your great advice.
candace says
LO-VE your post, it hits home for me and my hubby. You two are like a spunkier – more stylish -cuter – Younger version of us. We heart saving. And, we can do a lot more – which we are working on. We feel like we are surrounded by friends that are living way outside their means and it makes it difficult to relate to them sometimes.
The Dad pictures are Adorable.
HUGS
C
Gord says
Hey John & Sherry. Without stepping on your accountant’s toes (I’m sure he’s great) I would say you can write off more expenses. I have an accounting background. As you are doing “business” out of your house, you should be able to treat a portion of your home as a home office. This means you could write off a percentage of your utilities, property taxes, etc. He’s right, you can’t write off home renos; however, if you are using a space in your home to do business, you should be able to write off some expenses to cover the costs of operating that office space. Just my 2 cents worth! :)
YoungHouseLove says
This is true Gord! But in writing off a portion of our house as a home office we would have to pay capital gains taxes on that office area when and if we sell the house (which would diminish our whole-house profit substantially). This is why our accountant advised us that the small percentage of utilities that we would save for delegating one room as a home office wouldn’t be prudent in our case if we want the government to view our home only as our primary residence when we sell it (which offers up a lot more tax breaks than a house/home office does). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Leah says
What a wealth of ideas! My two tips would be:
1. Repair your shoes! New heel tips are so much cheaper than a new pair.
2. Dryel and Woolite can save you tons of money on dry cleaning. Most delicate knits can be handwashed, and Dryel can keep your dry clean only fresh.
Rebecca says
I agree with your accountant…what you’d pay him to prepare the form would out weigh the savings.
I would like to add that any improvement on your home can be added to the cost basis thereby reducing your gain when you sell so save those receipts!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Rebecca! Good to know!
xo,
s
Tiffany Fox says
Great tips on smart saving for household projects! It’s inspiring to see your “don’t spend it unless we have it” mantra in action in the bathroom remodel and now the nursery (with the bonus of actually spending less than you’d saved!). I’m part of an initiative to encourage people to talk about how they spend and save, as a way to bring more awareness to the need for smart personal finance. There are a wealth of stories like yours on our site. You Youngsters have great tips and pointers for others and we’d love for you to contribute to TalkTaboo, http://talktaboo.prosper.com/
anne says
I’m wondering what your advice would be for us. Spouse (C) and I are not in our “forever home,” and I’ll be a grad student for another 3 years, after which we’ll likely move to a new city. I’d like to buy a few new furniture pieces now and do a modest amount of decorating, but C’s opinion is that we’ll be moving (someday) and buying new furniture (someday) and that if we add a chair or two now, nothing will match and it might get broken in the move anyway. Ideas?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Anne,
Here’s a post all about forever home vs. not forever home DIYing: https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/06/email-answer-know-when-to-hold-em/
And here’s a post full of temporary space decorating ideas that can move with you: https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/04/email-answer-temporary-insanity/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kelly@TearingUpHouses says
What great principals to live by! Not enough people share these types of financial decisions in Shelter Blogland. It’s good to see someone opening up a very real and specific conversation about it. We, too, live by many of the same frugal lifestyle choices as you, though our situations are completely different. Also like you, we moved from an area that was a high cost of living to a part of the country that is much easier on the pocketbook.
The only thing I would also encourage is avid investing. Since I was in college I’ve invested nearly every penny I’ve earned, and that’s how I financed my renovations. Though debt like automobiles and credit cards is never a good idea, there are other types of debt that you shouldn’t necessarily focus on paying off right away, like a mortgage. Actually, I just wrote about it yesterday…
http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com/2010/03/step-away-from-payoff.html
Anyway, fantastic topic. Your ability to save on a modest budget impresses me!
Kelly
Michelle Kersey says
Our money saving strategies:
Hand me downs (I have only had to buy clothes for my son a handful of times)
We don’t go shopping… I actually hate shopping (clothes and shoes are not fun for me)
We have cut out out satellite for an Antenna… trading a $65/mo payment for a one time $100 payment.
Lowered our home phone bill by getting rid of call waiting, caller ID, and long distance. (really, we used the long distance, but we have cell phones too, so there’s no point in spending the extra money for both… but our cell phones are unreliable (country folk here) so a home phone is a safety device)
Craigslist!! I sell stuff we don’t use, and buy things a LOT cheaper that we need.
Toy Trades: I have a few friends with kids around my sons age, so we trade around toys once our kids have grown tired of them.
Haircuts: I cut my husbands hair, and only get mine cut MAYBE every 6 months. (I also don’t color it, ever.) For our son, I’ve cut his hair a few times but he’s too wiggly right now, and I have a friend that cuts hair, so she cuts mine and our sons for less than $20.
Food: We don’t go out to eat. If we do, it’s because we got a gift card for our birthday, or we’re getting treated by our parents. (Thanks again for treating us to Mexican last night dad!)I make my husbands lunch or he takes leftovers. I make every meal at home.
Cars: Well, unfortunately that one has been tough, my husband totaled two cars in a year… So, he is now driving a $3000 car as “punishment”. He must keep that one alive for longer than a year before we will even talk about getting him a better car. Thankfully, he manages an Auto Parts Store, so all the repairs he needs, he gets a good discount on the parts. I do have a nice car, but we considered that a “safety” thing that we bought when I was pregnant with our first… my old car had been through the wringer (and it was a two door). It was my moms car, then mine, and is still alive, but being driven by my brother.
Sorry if that was too long :) We’ve been working on a budget makeover for a year…
Stephanie Walker says
This was a great post. Thank you for sharing. I truly admire your frugal lifestyle. We’ve been living a crash course in frugality over the past year and a half… after a major financial crisis. The crisis really helped us reevaluate our spending habits.
We’re expecting our first baby in July and I’ve found your posts about creating the nursery extremely helpful. I too was lucky to have a friend give me a bunch of really great maternity clothes so that I didn’t have to spend a bunch of money on them.
Here’s a tip that might sound strange… but visit your local dump. Where we live, the dump is actually a really nice place as the residents are committed to recycling as a way of life. But we got our dining room table for $20 at the dump (it’s pay what you think it’s worth) and I’ll definitely be over there soon to look for a dresser for the baby’s room.
And one more tip…. if you don’t have money for a dresser, you can use shipping boxes as shelves for your clothes. We’ve been doing that since October and the boxes still hold up. It’s not pretty, though. We’re holding out for the right dresser (or storage solution) at the right price (no more than $20)
Thanks again for the post. This is one that I’ll come back to again and again. It’s good to be reminded.
-Stephanie
Sealicious says
you guys are so wonderful, thank you for your helpful tips and your honesty!
I use google alerts to do all the work for me when I am in need a great used item!
Mariel says
I cannot get your post out of my head and it is actually making me feel a bit reckless. My husband and I have a little one cooking in the oven (our fist too) and we just love to eat out in nice restaurants, -Chipotle is actually one of my favorite spots for lunch during the week! In the clothing department I just buy things that I need and are classic, in fact my mojo is to purchase nice clothes, shoes, bags, that last for a log time. It is an investment but I feel it is worth it. I have never paid more than 100 dollars for a haircut but I do get one every 3-months or so (my hair is the only accessory that I can wear every day and having a good hair cut makes me smile).
I only wish I could manage to cut unnecessary expenses (like eating out for lunch every day) but life is too short and money is there to enjoy it. Since we are fortunate enough to have savings and two incomes there are things that we are going to keep enjoying until the baby says otherwise. But tonight we are going out for dinner to a great Mexican restaurant in DC and I’m pumped!
Thanks for sharing…perhaps you should keep saving up but go wild every once in a while and splurge!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mariel,
We do definitely splurge from time to time, like we did on our organic mattress and our 2009 Maxima (along with a bunch of home renos like the big kitchen remodel). We just like to save our pennies in between those purchases so we don’t have any debt that will keep us from truly enjoying them. And it always makes us feel happiest when we’re putting our money towards things that we view as the most important (of course this is a personal preference thing, so home improvements and organic mattresses and a new car might not be everyone’s cup of tea). We can definitely see how others may value a great haircut, a nice meal out to dinner or wardrobe staples that they can wear for years on end. To each his own!
xo,
s
Holly says
Great post! My husband and I recently bought a small fixer upper as a vacation home and its all thanks to being very frugal. We don’t have kids and our main home is a small 2 bedroom home that is just big enough. I bought our main home 10 years ago and we did almost all of the renovations ourselves with cash not credit.
When we bought the vacation home I made a vow that most all furnishings were going to be second hand, items from storage, or free. Craigslist and Goodwill have been my second home since September. My proudest moment so far has been the one guest bedroom. Using items I already have, thrift store finds, and repurposing the total was under $100.00.
So I think it takes planning, watching and being patient for good deals, compromise, and most of all creativity!
Martha says
Thanks so much for this post. It was very inspiring! I am a daily reader of your blog even though I don’t own a home of my own yet, I love to read and dream but can’t really implement many of your ideas just yet, but this post was definitely something I can use and need a reminder on every once in awhile. Thanks for sharing!
Leah says
Very cool. I read through all of your posts and I think you have some great ideas here. I’d love to hear more about actually using the envelope method too. It seems like a good idea, just not sure how to make the switch from the virtual money to that.
Thanks for the awesome ideas!
Briony says
I very much enjoyed this post Sherry. It was showing us what was behind the curtain in Oz. It’s nice to know how exactly you both can afford the home improvements. I do wonder about saving up the car. How did you figure out how much to save each month while also saving for home stuff? Also was the car brand spanking new or a buy back? When exactly did you start a baby budget? If I’ve missed this information somewhere in the comments please let me know. I hope you, John and the bean are doing well.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Briony,
We just save any extra income that we can each month (sometimes it’s a few hundred dollars, sometimes more or less) and we delegate it to whatever we deem has the highest priority (like the bathroom reno, since the car was a longer term thing we were saving for over a number of years). It wasn’t a brand new car (since it was a 2009 and they now sell 2010s) but it was owned only by the dealership for that year and had very few miles on it. As for the baby budget, we have always just been squirreling away money for the car and other expenses to make our house and our lifestyle more “baby ready” and the nursery has proven to be a very affordable DIY project so far (and our friends and family have been very generous with gifts and hand me downs for the bean). In short: we like to have as much in the bank as possible so we can put it towards things that really give us the most joy and pleasure (as opposed to more fleeting things like expensive meals which just don’t do it for us). But of course, to each his own!
xo,
s
panyizsuzsi says
Great post!
What I would like to add is planning on monthly basis. We financially plan exery month income contra expenses (regular and one time). This works great and it is easier to stay on track!
Danielle says
Sorry if this question was already asked…I was just wondering what you guys do about gifts. Both my husband and I have large families and it seems like we are always buying birthday gifts and such.
Thanks
YoungHouseLove says
We get really lucky when it comes to birthdays because a while back we agreed as a family to just enjoy one family experience per year together (this year it was a fun ski trip) instead of exchanging a bunch of b-day gifts with everyone every month of the year. We all really value our annual getaways and agree it’s better than opening boxes full of sweaters or CDs on our birthday (we still call each other and send cards to celebrate though). And as for Christmas we pull names so everyone gets just one relative to buy for instead of feeling the need to get dozens of gifts to cover every family member. This way everyone has one thing to unwrap and we never feel strained by holiday shopping. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Brittany says
Amen! Hubs and I are just as frugal and love hearing about other young savers. I haven’t read all the comments, but I think you forgot one crucial factor: alcohol! Y’all don’t drink, right? I love nothing more than a beer or glass of wine a couple nights a week, not to mention the occasional night out with friends and happy hour. We spend about $30 whenever we go out (which is CHEAP, some of our friends spend hundreds), but those trips add up. Plus if we buy a case of beer, it’s often 20-25% of our grocery store bill. So, if you really want to save money, cut the booze! Of course, organic food is way more expensive than beer, so you could just ONLY drink beer. :)
Val says
I always like your money-saving posts; they always inspire me. It just feels like we have such a hard time staying on track. We’re fortunate to have no debt whatsoever beyond our mortgage, but we both work 40+ hours a week and we just seem to stay tired. My job pays so much less that I often wonder if staying home wouldn’t make more sense; maybe we’d take fewer shortcuts. It’s hard to make it to the grocery store as often as we need to in order to keep from eating out. And doing a whole lot of shopping around feels like a waste of our very valuable off time. I feel like it’s such a lame excuse for not saving as aggressively as we should, but I think it’s true for a lot of younger people just starting out in life.
But thanks for setting the bar up there! We’ll keep trying to do better…
Elizabeth says
I also really enjoyed reading this post. For what it’s worth, we’re actually thinking of cutting back to a single car so that we can more easily afford to buy a place (DC area so things are expensive), and our child is turning a year old. I know that someone mentioned emergency pediatrician visits, but a few taxi rides a year is much cheaper than maintaining and insuring an extra vehicle full-time.
Rebecca Reynolds says
Dave Ramsey would be so proud of you guys!
We are all about paying cash only from the envelopes, no credit cards, and living a simple, yet enjoyable life!!