Daily Links: Better Things to Do With My Money Edition
Published on - September 26th, 2008 (by J.D. Roth) Thanks for all the comments in the $22 movie thread. At first I felt picked on (though I deserved it — I’m the bonehead who spent $14.75 on snacks), but enough repetition has finally beat a point into my head: I don’t need to buy snacks at the movies. Who cares if I’ve done it for 39 years? Just because it’s a life-long habit doesn’t make it right. (“It’s you being lazy and not thinking ahead!” Kris tells me.)
The best suggestion from that discussion is to take that $14.75 I spent for snacks and use it for a decent meal before or after the movie. Duh. So obvious, and yet sometimes it’s the obvious things we cannot see. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
Speaking of better things to do with my money, here are some great personal finance tips from around the web!
At The Simple Dollar, Trent has some ideas on how to safely build your credit history. If you’re careful and do things right, he says, “your insurance rates will be lower and when it comes time for big loans, like your mortgage, you’ll be eligible for good rates.”
That crafty site Etsy recently interviewed a user about how to quit your day job. Nicole’s Etsy shop lillyella has been open for just a few months, but she’s already earning enough to support herself. Like most of us who make the jump, she’s making short-term sacrifices for long-term goals. Frugality is a means to an end!
People are always looking for ways to save on food. Nitsuj at AskMetafilter wants to know: “What’s your secret tip for saving money at the grocery store?” There are some familiar faces here — use a list, pay attention to unit pricing, buy bulk, don’t waste the food you already have — but it never hurts to brush up on your supermarket skills!
Finally, the Mighty Bargain Hunter says there are two things that trump “return on investment”: earning power and frugality. You might be able to squeeze 6% annually from the stock market (though much less under current conditions), but you have greater control over your job and your spending habits, and can use this control to beat the market.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
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It is amazing how little we believe our in our ability to earn income in the labor market, but yet believe that we can make fortunes in the stock market.
I’ve managed to triple my salary over the last four years – and my stock market investments have languished. Hmmm…where should I focus my energy?
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If you’re motivated, I think one of the best investments you can make is in yourself. Instead of taking a high-paying finance job right out of college ($80k/yr), I went to med school. Yes, the opportunity cost was 4 years and $240k, but now I’m making >6 figures in healthcare finance and what really allows me to stand out and shave years off my career advancement is the MD after my name. Definitely a worthwhile investment in my book.
Re frugality, I pay $600/month in rent in the Bay Area, drive a 10 year old car, bring lunch to work, and carry no credit card debt.
The end result: Roth and 401k are funded, I’ve got my emergency fund, and am saving for a down payment– hope to buy when the market tanks even further. There is no way I could have done this in the stock market… It is definitely possible to get places with hard work and a little luck.
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It seems in recent years there is a trend to use credit history as a factor in determining car insurance rates. I was pleasantly surprised last year when my auto insurance rate dropped; I’ll bet there were some people who were equally unpleasantly surprised by an increase. A good credit history is really a financial asset.
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We usually split a popcorn and soda. It’s cheaper, but since we go to the movies so infrequently, we feel it’s worth it. After all, movies are a $60 or so expense after babysitter. Very few movies are worth that.
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Oooh! Thanks for the lead to lillyella! What nice stuff she makes…if I could do that, I could quit my day job, too.
LOL! The overpriced fake food and sodas are what keep movie theaters in business, alas. I usually go with friends who do buy that stuff, and it’s really hard to resist a pop or a bag of 1000%-inflated popcorn with icky fake butter when everyone else is buying giant packages of it. How many times can I pretend to have an upset stomach or still to be full from lunch (six hours ago…) without triggering their suspicions that the real truth is I’m an unregenerate cheapskate?
Wait. They already know that.
But knowing the theater owner makes his living from selling that stuff, I can’t bring myself to cheat by sneaking in a bag of popcorn (with real butter!) in my purse. Less guilt-inducing to rent a movie (or get it free from the library) and enjoy wonderful fresh-popped corn (with real! butter!!) or some fresh-made chocolate chip cookies in the comfort of home.
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There are so many money saving tips we come across everyday – I think it’s a good idea to write a book packed with all these money saving tips. That’s my next project.
A Dawn
http://www.adawnjournal.com
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oops… Friday brain freeze, opp cost above is $320k, sorry.
Just slightly OCD here.
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Sometimes you do need a little splurge. I’d consider your movie outing “little” enough. Here’s how to make it even littler.
When our local grocery store runs those “Buy x, get free movie tickets” I do them. Always. I figured it out, and I spend (on average) $4 more than I otherwise would. For two tickets. Then we consistently use them at the same theater. They’re glad to have them, especially when six of us come in together.
We signed up for their movie watcher program. The passes credit just as if we’d paid full price. That gets us discounts on concessions, and the occasionally freebie. Then we buy one supersize popcorn and a supersize soda. They’re refillable. And the manager said as long as we’re not transferring them to other containers, it’s okay to share.
Last trip to movies for six people: $4 x 3 for the tickets, $8.50 for the popcorn; $5.50 for the soda, for a total of $26.
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I think it’s funny how it’s so much easier NOT to spend money than it is TO spend money, and yet most of us are OK going to the trouble to part with our cash. To spend money you have to put out some effort…drive to the store or find the site online, decide what to buy, pull out the wallet…if we just stayed home and organized, purged, made something…wouldn’t we feel so much more empowered and self-sufficient, than going to the trouble to spend money on mostly silly things? I’m saying this to myself here. We are a mysterious peopele.
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When it comes to “fun” spending, I’ve found having a budget is a great balance between freedom and frugality. I have $50/month to spend on fun stuff–no strings or guilt attached. (Some might cricitize that, but I say money is made to be used! Let me have my little delights!)
Since I’ve pretty much written off that money, buying things with it becomes, not a question of asking “Should I or shouldn’t I?” but rather, “is this really worth $22 to me?” And I really like that psychological effect. I can buy D&D sourcebooks guilt-free, but I am strongly incentivized to look for the best price on them. Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because . . . hey, it’s my only fun-money, and I wont get any more until next month. May as well get two books instead of one. . .
It has the odd effect that I haven’t been to the movies in like five years. I could, any time I wanted to (and I did go, for Lord of the Rings…), but I mean . . . that’s $9 of fun-money! That’s like a whole discount D&D sourcebook, or half a hot-new-boardgame. Two hours of maybe-meh is worth about $1.25 in my current fun-money economy.
Some months, the competition for those $50 is pretty darn stiff. I’ve got like six things in the backlog, and come October, it’s gonna be a tough rumble. I like it that way. More competitions means I get to maximize my experiences more. But tough competition also means certain experiences rarely make the cut. Movies haven’t made it in . . . like . . . well, since I started doing this.
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“frugality is a means to an end!”
absolutely! by becoming as frugal as you can, you cut out enough fluff to invest in what matters over paying for your daily grind. you’re freeing up opportunity time/money.
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Since I’ve become more heath conscious, I’ve found myself getting steamed up about this concession situation. I have to eat their overpriced junk or nothing; I can’t bring in healthy food that they’re not selling. What do diabetics and heart patients do?
This has been a big factor in my cutting down on concerts, sporting events, and movies.
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In my town (upstate NY) we have Regal Cinemas and they have a members card, it’s free to join and you just hand it to them every time you go. Sometimes it prints free coupons for popcorn, snacks, or a drink, sometimes it doesn’t. When it does, I’ll use them, if it doesn’t I stay away from the concessions. It’s nice, I don’t like the candy though so I usually give it to back to the ticket seller and tell them to give it to someone who will use it. You should see if your theater has something like it.
Also, the local theatre has about $1 off for students, so that’s a nice deal as well if I don’t feel like going to the theatre 12 miles away.
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