The Frugal (AKA poor) Sailor

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by picklesandjesse

Rented the property to an 18 year old girl for only $250 a month on condition that she feeds the birds and maintains the garden.
What could possibly go wrong ??!!

I knew this fellow in a marina who left his parrot with someone for a week while he went in vacation, and the parrot sitter thought it would be funny to teach the bird a few swear works like the one that starts with the letter "F"

[Mike OReilly]

All this talk of high rewards via CC points and value increases in real estate kinda miss the point of frugality. These are all ways of increasing the income side of the financial equation. To me, frugality focuses more on being wise with the expense side.

To that end, this winter my spouse and I will be house/pet sitting. Cost to us: $100/month in shared utilities. And for that we get to live in a beautiful place in the mountains, in a lovely little house, at almost no cost to us. I've never tried house sitting before, but it seems to be a very frugal way to live and travel.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

All this talk of high rewards via CC points and value increases in real estate kinda miss the point of frugality. These are all ways of increasing the income side of the financial equation. To me, frugality focuses more on being wise with the expense side.

To that end, this winter my spouse and I will be house/pet sitting. Cost to us: $100/month in shared utilities. And for that we get to live in a beautiful place in the mountains, in a lovely little house, at almost no cost to us. I've never tried house sitting before, but it seems to be a very frugal way to live and travel.

frugal
ˈfruːɡ(ə)l/
adjective
sparing or economical as regards money or food.
"I'm a bit too frugal to splash out on designer clothes"
synonyms: thrifty, sparing, economical, saving; More
simple and plain and costing little.
"a frugal meal"
synonyms: meagre, scanty, scant, paltry, skimpy, insufficient; More


How is it not frugal if I spend 2% less using a credit card on store purchases than the next guy paying cash for the same items at the same store? It's an economical use of money.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

frugal
ˈfruːɡ(ə)l/
adjective
sparing or economical as regards money or food.
"I'm a bit too frugal to splash out on designer clothes"
synonyms: thrifty, sparing, economical, saving; More
simple and plain and costing little.
"a frugal meal"
synonyms: meagre, scanty, scant, paltry, skimpy, insufficient; More


How is it not frugal if I spend 2% less using a credit card on store purchases than the next guy paying cash for the same items at the same store? It's an economical use of money.

Naah.. frugal is paying 90% less in cash at the 'Salvo'...

[a64pilot]

There are two frugals here

One focuses on how to live a decent lifestyle as inexpensively as possible.

The other focuses on how to maintain assets and or how to increase their buying power presumably to live a decent lifestyle as inexpensively as possible.

I think they are the same at the core, the kicker is some have different opinions on what defines a decent lifestyle, but both I believe can benefit from discovering ways to make their money have the greatest purchasing power possible

I read all these financial threads with great interest cause I need to stretch my money and I do pick up tips on how to do that.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Naah.. frugal is paying 90% less in cash at the 'Salvo'...

Or taking your logic to an extreme, frugal is paying 100% less by dumpster diving.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

... These are all ways of increasing the income side of the financial equation. To me, frugality focuses more on being wise with the expense side...

An old cruising friend once opined: "It ain't about what you earn - it's more about what you don't spend"

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Or taking your logic to an extreme, frugal is paying 100% less by dumpster diving.

In a former life I actually made money dumpster diving . ( usually on construction sites ) . With owners permission.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

...How is it not frugal if I spend 2% less using a credit card on store purchases than the next guy paying cash for the same items at the same store? It's an economical use of money.

It's OK Ken, you can consider yourself frugal. Although it is the kind of frugality I have a hard time wrapping my head around. My failing I suppose... But you appear to be spending huge dollars to be getting the kinds of rewards you talk about:

"[credit card points gives me] 4-6 airfares and a couple thousand dollars of free travel money each year. ... I expect the credit cards points back to pay all my off season mooring fees in Italy along with the travel to and from in 2017."

I guess you're right a64pilot, we do seem to be discussing two different forms of frugality. If it works for you, then it's all good.

Originally Posted by GordMay

An old cruising friend once opined: "It ain't about what you earn - it's more about what you don't spend"

This is the kind of frugality I understand.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Or taking your logic to an extreme, frugal is paying 100% less by dumpster diving.

Naah mate.. false economy.. gotta spend for a laundromat wash and dry.. not cheap.. at the Salvo its debugged and washed before it goes up for sale.. can get some really good quality stuff as well.

[sailorchic34]

Gee I don't have a charge card and up to 2 years ago I did not have a bank account for quite a number of years. If I got 2 percent back on everything I purchased for a year including slip fees, that 2% would be less then $120.

But I have found a printer, A nice BIG commercial crab boil pot and SS colander, water maker RO pressure vessel and charts all by Marina dumpster diving. Combined that's well over $120 a year over several years.

I just purchased cabin lights for $9 each, That's housing bright warm led bulb and switch. I added a wireless remote control to my autopilot for $13 and repaired the autopilot for $3 in parts, transistors and two capacitors. The two capacitors came from an old charge controller.

I don't own a smart phone and don't get excited when a new eyephone comes out. When I was looking for a CAD laptop, I purchased a 3 year old used HP laptop that had more features and better built and finish then the lastest laptops that cost 3 times more and have fewer expansion options. I use it every day to make money and annoy folks on CF and it's still going strong.

To me, Frugal is buying a $9 light, rather then paying the $60-$100 marine light and getting 2 percent back. But different folks look at it differently.

[JPA Cate]

A long time ago, we lived at a Marina in a comparatively wealthy area, and the dumpster diving was amazing! We're still using some cookware we got there. We got a formerly brand new jib sheet that had some clean diesel spilled on it. I rinsed it in detergent and water, good as new! There was a fuel tank for an outboard motor, too. There was a complete set of golf clubs, some with little bonnets on, leather bag, all in the tip. If I had really been frugal, I'd have taken them, sold them on e-bay, and taken my gains to Salvo's like Boatie says.

Generally speaking, thrift shops near wealthy areas have higher quality clothing in better condition, and sometimes better "taste".

To me, I enjoy the concept of re-cycling things by using dumpster diving (where it's good) and thrift shops (where they are good.) When/if I ever have to be land based, I will do my shopping that way, because I can get good things, for less $$ output that way, and it appeals.

In the US, but other places, as well, people are encouraged to buy new, but I really think basic quality should be the criteria. If I could get better spinnaker sheets second hand, I would, unfortunately, some boat stuff has to be new. But I look at new, like "new is as as new does", could be better, maybe not. I also think people vary considerably on how their self concept is tied up with how they want to live.

Taking the example of Mike, he has arranged to spend a comfortable season in a lovely place, relating to some hopefully lovely pets. How cool, if you don't want to spend a Canadian winter on board.

Yet, I know some people are really proud of their home and what they have put into it, and some of that is both new and pricey. Within their means. Some might say too flashy, but really, if they have the wherewithal, why not?

Sometimes we try to turn discussions of frugality into a sort of morality, and there starts to creep into the discussion bits of class prejudice, going in both directions.

We all have choices for how to use our incomes. It seems to me that frugal is wise, as long as quality can be maintained, and sets us up best for an uncertain future. For me, the core of frugality is deeply understanding the difference between wants and needs, and living well within one's income. We get to choose for ourselves what makes us happy.

Ann

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Naah mate.. false economy.. gotta spend for a laundromat wash and dry.. not cheap.. at the Salvo its debugged and washed before it goes up for sale.. can get some really good quality stuff as well.

I've purchased CDs and clothing at the Salvation Army store in the past to support their excellent people rehab program. BUT, I prefer now to buy my clothing at the end of a season when it goes on sale here in Italy, and also when the prices here rival the Salvation Army prices back in the US. Another plus... The clothing doesn't need to be "debugged," it's made in Italy so it's much higher quality that Walmart (made in China) stuff and I get the full 100% use of the item, rather than the final 10-20%.

[Snowpetrel]

Laughing at how ken, with his oyster 52 and his real estate rental retirement plan is telling people how to live a frugal lifestyle, But I guess all things are relative, and conpared to the superyacht set an oyster 52 is a very small, scruffy and rediculiously cheap yacht.

Anyway my best dumpster dive was an old spinnaker that some racer had ditched with 25 or so meters of rips. $100 got it crudely stiched up and I had a quite servicable kite.

The stb leech had a bit of a funy hook, so it wasn't ideal for a very tight reach, but one of my best memories was setting it and sailing for a few hours through the lighter inshore lead of the pack ice off Commonweath Bay.

I was pretty proud of that sail, and the story behind it.

[Blue Crab]

I believe Ken drives a Ferrari. Jes sayin'.