ecosophia | Frugal Friday

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc. I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm not sure it's black or white, but maybe a lot of grey area when it comes to car or no car. Our vehicles are tools for us. We live somewhat rurally, so there is no corner store to walk or bike to. We don't joy ride around. Our truck sits until we absolutely need to to haul yards of potting soil or renovation materials. Our car is used about once a week for grocery shopping. We are retired, so no one is driving to work anymore. We still pay our monthly car insurance, fill up the car tank about once a month and have maintenance costs. After saying that, I do wonder if we could make it without our vehicles. We would have to rely on taxis or Ubers, food delivery services, and family members. I'm not ready to give up my independence just yet.

Oh, granted. I chose a car-free lifestyle, and that's viable for many people these days, but not for everyone. One of the things I've tried to communicate along these lines is that there is no "one size fits all" option -- we each have to choose possibilities that work for our individual lives and needs.

Exactly! My youngest son lives in LA and has no need for a car. If it's not walkable, he gets an Uber. The apartment he moved into is walkable to bars and restaurants which suits my son's lifestyle. And for those curious, he pays a little over $5000 a month for a two bedroom.

We do the same. We've got one car (a 2011 Ford Focus) held together with duct tape, after the whomping willow fell on it and we had to get a salvage title.

Since Bill and I are indie writers, working from home, our car spends most of its life in the driveway.

We walk as much as we can.

But we need it, for groceries, trips, or events, it's there.

We arrange our schedule to job errands so it gets used less.
If we need a bigger car, such as a far-away book event, we arrange with Dear Son to use his much bigger 2006 Buick (handed down from Grandma).

Many of us probably can't live without one car for the household but most of us can minimize our car usage by planning trips and careful scheduling.

Paying attention to what you really need really pays off.

Frugal Friday

Re: intersection of frugality and the automobile

Re: intersection of frugality and the automobile

Re: intersection of frugality and the automobile

Re: intersection of frugality and the automobile