Counting the Cost

Creatively Frugal Indulgences
"What are your favorite indulgences and how do you save money while enjoying them?"

"My indulgence is reading – especially a good novel. I have several sources for low-cost books:

Garage sales and thrift stores – this tends to be the cheapest option if you aren’t looking for specific book titles or authors.
Ebay, of course - You can great new or like-new books for very low prices and find specific things you want – even hard-to-find titles/authors. Someone’s usually selling it on ebay.
Paperbackswap.com - This is my new favorite site. You sign up and list a minimum of 9 books that you want to swap with other club members. This gains you three credits to search for books you want (most books are one credit). Once you find one, request it from the member and they will send it to you for free. It works great because as your books are requested you just pay for postage to send the book and get more credits once the member receives it! The postage is generally about $1.59 via USPS media mail and they even print the book wrapper for you to send it in. It’s a great system and a great way to get specific books for free and to clear your house of books you have already read so others can enjoy them. If you’re interested and want to sign up, please put my nickname “ilovereading” in as your referral." ~ Becky

"We like to keep a bouquet of fresh flowers. Our favorites are a mixture of mums. They come in lots of bright, cheery colors, and can last two weeks to a month before needing to be changed. Not bad for $3.95 from the local dollar store!" ~ Terrie

"I live on a small island in Southeast Alaska. Residents of our town are blessed by our surroundings of forests, mountains, oceans and bays dotted with other small islands. Looking out my living room window, I might see eagles, ravens and seagulls, whales, seals and otters. Occasionally we see deer; during the summer, we sometimes see bears (or at least know they've been around!).

We don't have most of the franchise chains or large stores found down south, but it takes only a little creativity to indulge myself without spending a fortune!

Without a doubt, my favorite simple indulgence is eating - slowly - a small piece of good quality dark chocolate while gazing out the window at my view of the mountains, forests and ocean. If I want to really indulge, I add a small handful of almonds; mega-indulgence means including a small piece of home-baked shortbread. With my favorite music playing in the background, I not only have an indulgence, I create a moment of retreat and restoration!

Can this be frugal? Of course! We have a company in town that makes awesome chocolate, plus several small locally-owned stores that sell quality chocolate for a reasonable price. A 3.5 ounce bar provides many more servings than 2.5 stated on the label. (Remember to keep the rest of the bar well-wrapped and in a cool, dark spot.) If I'm traveling down south to an area with a Target store, I'll visit the chocolate aisle - they stock a variety of brands and most are reasonable priced. (But I do prefer to support my local businesses!) I buy almonds on sale and freeze what I haven't used. And making my own shortbread is easy and inexpensive. (Haven't figured out how to cut the calories, though.)

But more than frugal, these little indulgences are food for my soul and a lovely reminder of God's abundance in my life." ~ Kit

"I love Starbuck’s mochas. The way I prevent them from breaking the bank is by keeping them 'special.' If I got one every day, they wouldn’t be special any more. I might take a good book with me and enjoy the mocha right there at Starbuck’s. A big part of the 'specialness' for me is the atmosphere of the store…the surroundings, the good music. I only have time to sit and enjoy that on the weekend anyway. If I do go through the drive-through, it’s only for a special reason. For instance, I have to work overtime on a Saturday, I can get myself out the door by telling myself I will get a mocha on the way. " ~ Terri

"I love nice clothing so I am always on the lookout at the thrift shops for clothing I can alter to make more stylish. I worked in upper end retail for many years so I invest in brands that I know are well-made. I will take a dress that is too long and hem it up. I like to find layering pieces such as sleeveless tops that can go under blazers or sweaters. If you are careful you can find shoes that are barely worn. Sometimes I will take them to a shoe repair shop and have them dyed a color I might like in my wardrobe. Light colored shoes adapt to that.

I am not a real seamstress so sometimes I will purchase a nice pair of pants in wool a bit larger than my size and take them to a professional seamstress to be altered to fit me. ( I am hard to fit in pants.) If I pick up the pants for $5 the investment with the tailor is nominal if she can custom-fit them for me. It beats buying fabric, patterns etc and having everything made from scratch. I am sometimes on the lookout for scarves and unique handbags. We are re-locating to a much colder climate and I have obtained several beautiful wool sweaters, gloves and scarves. I am prepared before I get there at a fraction of the price I would pay later in my new community! In our 'consume, consume' culture the thrift shops in many communities are gold mines!" ~ Janice

"My favorite indulgence is books. I absolutely love them! Since I read really fast it costs way too much money to buy all the latest of my favorite authors. (I might not like a book either so what a waste to buy new?) We have an awesome library system in Reno, NV so I go online and put holds on all the new books, quite a few movies that were just at the theaters and my new discovery of books on tape. I love them all and you get to keep these for 3 weeks and can renew for another 3 weeks. Since our library is near our church I just drop them off once a week. The library calls me when something from my hold list is in and they keep it on hold for me for 1 week so I never have to make an unnecessary trip to the library." ~ Crystal - Saving in Reno

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"I love Starbucks' flavored lattes, but at over $4 an 8 oz. cup, I feel guilty purchasing more than 2 or 3 a year. I've discovered that Speedway sells what is, in my opinion, a fairly good latte for $1.09 for a 24 oz. cup. They have a variety of flavors, syrups, etc." ~ Suzanne

"We love to travel, but at the cost of diesel for our truck, camping fees, entrance fees to exhibits and amusement parks it can get pretty expensive quickly. Not to mention the time off from work. To pay for this indulgence for three adults we do 'extra fundraisers' -- mainly right now it's selling poultry, eggs and surplus junk that has built up around the ranch. We also put any money we save from using coupons, discounts etc in the fund. No money is taken out of the household budget for this luxury. One trip I paid for entirely with coupon and refunding money. Instead of packing an excessively large amount of groceries for our then family of four, I packed a shoe box of my free food coupons. All towns have grocery stores. Of that extra income 1/4 goes to the travel/luxury budget. The other 3/4's goes to bill pay off, emergency fund, and home/ranch repair/improvement

When enough money is gathered we try to time a trip along with a three-day holiday weekend. My husband works four ten-hour shifts a week, Mon-Thurs. So when you add a holiday Monday to that and 32 hours of his vacation time (he gets 200 hours a year), we can travel for eleven days on that 32 hours.

Each year we choose an amusement park either nearby (for quick weekend getaways) or one a great distance off like Walt Disney World (for 2-4 long trips a year) and we purchase annual passes for that park. When you make more than one trip an annual pass quickly pays for itself with discounts on camping, hotels, meals, and purchases. Not to mention the freedom of coming and going to the park itself when you want to instead of being stuck on a strict number of days tickets.

As we travel we take a free form route, deciding each day which direction we are going based on the free sites we are going to see along the way.

Our favorite trip last year was a totally free form trip of 11 days from OK north/north west. Along that route we saw over 100 interesting sites, a few we paid to go in the parks (Like Mount Rushmore) others, like Devil's Tower we simply viewed from the road.

What we go to see is based on the free info from the tourist information bureaus and our local auto club (be sure and check them for discounts on pay for venues).

We camp many a night in Wal-Mart, Cracker Barrel and other such obliging businesses for free vs $30-$70 per night in campgrounds. Often we stay in State Parks for under $20 as well. The eleven day trip, all costs included was under $1,000 for two adults.

We traveled in OK, NE, IA, KS, SD, CO, MO & WY seeing over 100 sites. that's basically $10 per site.

The key to traveling on a shoe string is great resources for info. I highly suggest everyone check out the various Yahoogroups for great money savings tips on traveling. Do a yahoogroups subject search to find the groups that best meet your needs.

I personally belong to themouseforless@yahoogroups.com for great ways to save big visiting any Disney theme park. Wal-Martrving at YahooGroups is another great one for free overnight camping.

When we went to the Biltmore we got advanced info from a Biltmore group.

Want to travel, visit a park? There is some free yahoogroup for it I can almost guarantee. Also email the various state tourism sites for free travel info and discounts. No time to wait for it to be mailed to you? Stop at a tourist info bureau to pick up the info as you enter a state. Remember to ask for any discount info they have as well. Maps are free from this source too.

Consider joining an auto club like AAA for great discounts on just about everything you would need for travel of any type.

Camping discount clubs like Good Sam's and KOA pay for themselves time and time again if you travel much. I would not, however, join a time share camping club.

Travel is a great family activity for all ages and how better to enjoy the majesty of God's creation than to travel to see sites like Carlsbad Caverns, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone like we have planned this year on a series of 4 eleven day trips." ~ Jan

Editor's Note: Thanks to these readers for taking time to share their ideas!