Lightening Online

If you’ve ever read The Complete Tightwad Gazette yourself, you’ll be aware of Amy Dacyczyn’s great enthusiasm for yard sales and second hand clothing stores as a great way of saving budget $$$. On page 10 of The Complete Tightwad Gazette she has a list of “10 Painless Ways to Save $100 This Year” and number 1 on that list is:

Purchase 10 articles of clothing at thrift shops and yard sales this year instead of paying department store prices.

I feel very fortunate to have some friends who are avid “op shoppers” (the Australian term for “thrift store”). Hearing them talk about their finds was what lead me to start checking out a few of these stores.

I only wish I had been aware of the golden nuggets that can be found when Leighton was a toddler. I REALLY struggled to clothe him on the income we had (once he grew out of the wonderful clothing gifts we’d been given). I’m sure had I been aware of the benefits of second-hand clothing stores back then, I could have made my life a LOT easier.

Purchasing Second-Hand Clothing doesn’t come without it’s challenges though. Here are some that I have come across:

Finding a Decent Second Hand Store

Sadly, some stores have become overpriced. Personally, I think this has to do with people purchasing second-hand clothing and then onselling for a profit on ebay and similar auction sites.

Church-based stores seem to offer the best value for money. If they’re volunteer run, they don’t need to make as much money. Small towns seem to offer better value for money too. If you live in a city, consider dropping in to an op shop for a browse if you’re travelling in the country.

Having Time to Just Browse

What I’ve found is that you have to go through the racks and piles of clothing more than ONCE. I’ve been surprised at what I’ve found on my 2nd and 3rd look through a pile. I do find it’s important to be in a “browsing mood” if I’m going to be successful in these stores.

The Kids Won’t Wear Second-Hand

This seems to get more challenging as they get older. I’m just starting to find this in my 10 year old. I do think it’s important to get them used to second hand when they’re younger (which is part of Leighton’s problem - he’s been used to mostly “new” clothing).

We had our first buy-swap-sell type day at our church this week. It was a FABULOUS morning. In fact, the very people who’ve been responsible for getting me “op shopping” were the ones organising it. What was great was seeing our children (okay, the girls - the boys were more interested in hanging out AWAY from the “shopping”) all enjoying going through one another’s clothes and trying stuff on. I think it really broke down the “stigma” of “this is second hand”. Instead it was a real atmosphere of “everyone is doing this”.

Some More Tips From The Complete Tightwad Gazette

Reworded from page 189 & 190 of The Complete Tightwad Gazette

• Change your expectations. You might not find the pair of slacks you were looking for but perhaps you can pick up a nice blouse.
• Keep a notebook of needs, recording size & measurements for each family member.
• Examine clothing carefully for defects and consider if flaws can be easily fixed (ie resewing a seam). The item may still be worth purchasing if the price is right.
• Consider these items of clothing as “new that has been washing 10 times”.
• Buy classic styles. Learn which brand names are good quality. Know what colours and styles look good on you.
• Buy in advance for children - in larger sizes. You won’t always find EXACTLY what you want at the time you want it.

For Discussion

1. Do you buy/wear second-hand clothing? Why/Why Not?

2. What are your tips for finding the golden nuggets amongst the “stuff”?

3. Feel free to share your positive and/or negative experiences with second-hand clothing in the comments section.

4. Any other comments or questions you’d like to make on this topic.

This week our discussion on The Complete Tightwad Gazette continues with a look at a couple of simple steps that can be taken to start (or restart as the case may be) you on the journey toward a “smarter” (or insert your own term for “frugal” ) way of dealing with your money.

Step One - Record ALL Spending

According to The Complete Tightwad Gazette, the place to start with getting a handle on your finances is here:

“…record spending habits for a period of 3 months” (p9)

Personally, I try to record all of our spending all of the time (with the exception of “petty cash” and “personal spending money” which are unaccountable amounts).

But if you don’t feel you can make a commitment to record all spending long-term, it IS helpful to at least do this for a period of time every now and then. It gives you a more *honest* look at where your money is going. If you don’t know where it is going then it is very difficult to make changes to how you’re spending.

Step Two - Separate Expenses Into Essential and Optional

Once you know WHERE your money is going, it’s important to look at what items you consider to be “essential” and what items you might consider “optional”.

I found this quote in The Complete Tightwad Gazette quite interesting:

“No one but you can say exactly where the line between essential and optional expenses falls. That depends on your value system”. p9

I’m not 100% sure I agree with that statement. I feel that particularly in Western cultures, we have a skewed idea of what really IS essential spending and what is optional. While I do agree that our own values system may cause some variation, I feel that many of us need to take a long hard look at what we consider “essential” when it comes to spending.

Discussion Questions

Do you track your spending and if so, how?

Do you track all the time or just periodically to check on where your money is going?

What are your thoughts on the debate between “essential” and “optional” spending. Have we gotten our ideas on “essential” a little “out of whack”?

Feel free to add any other thoughts and/or questions to the discussion in the comments section below.

Over the next few weeks, I want to do a series of posts regarding “The Complete Tightwad Gazette”. I’m hoping that we can generate some discussion surrounding some of the theories expressed in this book and hopefully learn from one another.

To start off, I have a confession to make. I was originally put off this book by the title. I HATE the word “tightwad”. In my mind it conjures up images like someone who is unnecessarily “stingy”. To the point that it could be harmful to either the person involved or someone they love.

I wondered if my understanding of the term “tightwad” was unnecessarily negative, so I decided to do a search for the word “tightwad” on Wikipedia. I was diverted to a page that says this:

A skinflint is a person considered so miserly that he would even “skin a flint” to save something of it. A flint is a small piece of flintstone used to strike a spark in the tinderbox. The flints in modern day lighters aren’t made of flintstone, but rather of Ferrocerium. A ’skinflint’ dislikes spending money and is also sometimes referred to as a ‘tightwad’, a ‘miser’, a ‘niggard’, a ‘piker’, and a ‘penny pincher’.

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t exactly inspire me towards greater lengths of becoming a “Tightwad”.

For me, the word “frugal” seems to be a more acceptable descriptive term.

So what does Wikepedia have to say about the word Frugal?

Frugality (also known as thrift or thriftiness ) is the practice of acquiring goods and services at minimum cost, achieved via economical restraints or creative measures. Frugality can be related to the idea of being conservative or conserving money.

That sounds a little bit better doesn’t it?

However, simply copying someone else’s definition of a word doesn’t necessarily help ME to define what frugality is to ME.

My Definition Of Frugality

1. Making informed CHOICES about where our money will be spent based on our own set of values and needs.

2. Managing our money so that we get good value for $$ spent.

3. Understanding the difference between NEEDS and WANTS.

4. Cultivating an attitude of contentment so that we don’t get TOO caught up in the “more, more” mentality.

5. Making the best use of what we have in order to minimise WASTE.

So my questions for you today are:

1. What term do you prefer to describe someone who is careful with how they spend money?

2. What is your definition of the term “frugal” (or whatever term you prefer to use)?