Young and Frugal

As gas passes $3.50 per gallon and rapidly approaches $4.00 per gallon (or it’s already there…sorry CA), Mary and I can’t wait to move into our new house and cut our commute from 32 miles to 15. However in the meantime, we have taken measures to get the most out of our tanks of gas. So here are 10 tips that could help you increase those MPGs and decrease those gas bills!

1. Carpool. Mary and I are lucky enough to work at the same company, so it makes sense for us to carpool. By our calculation, we are saving at least $200 per month by this little step. Sure, it sucks sometimes when one of us has to work later, leaving the other with nothing to do, but we always remind each other how much money and time (Carpool lane) carpooling saves us.

2. Change the oil on time. Staying up to date on engine oil changes helps your car run better and get the most out of your gas. I make sure to change the oil in our Acura every 5,000 miles (Oil Co’s recommend 3,000 miles, car makers say 5,000), and every 7500 miles in our Volvo (synthetic oil).

3. Get a high performance air filter. K&N air filters are expensive, but they pay for themselves in the long run. They come with a 1 million mile warranty because you clean them instead of replace them, plus you can get up to 10% better gas mileage because they allow your engine to breathe better and give you better performance. I received 10% better gas mileage in my old Jeep when I put in a K&N filter. Note: Mr. Dave points out in the comments, that high performance filters are not recommended for some engines like the VW TDi engine.  Though if you have that engine you’re beating all of us on MPG anyway.

4. Inflate the tires. Making sure your tires are inflated to the recommended PSI will increase your gas mileage because a fully inflated tire offers less resistance when you are coasting.

5. Coast. If you have an onboard computer, have you ever set it to give you the instantaneous MPG? You will probably notice that when your foot is off the gas your MPG skyrockets. So if you see a read light ahead let off the gas, there is no need to speed to a stop, it’s just a waste of gas and you’ll have to replace your brakes sooner.

6. A/C or Windows Down? It’s summer, it’s hot, so what do you do? This all depends on what you are doing. If you are driving at highway speeds, roll the windows up and use the A/C, because the drag of the windows being down really hurts the gas mileage. Driving around town? Roll ‘em down!

7. Don’t carry around extra crap! Weight directly affects your gas mileage. The more stuff you have weighing down your car the worse MPG you get. So lose the golf clubs, toolbox, and other random stuff unless you need it.

8. Plan your routes. UPS saved millions of dollars a year in gas by rerouting their trucks to limit the number of left turns, and you can save money too! Plan your routes in the most efficient way possible. Generally right turns are faster and they use less gas waiting at lights than left turns, so why not try it out!

9. Get a gas card! Many credit card companies offer cash back on gas purchases, so why not!? You’re going to be spending the money anyway, so you might as well earn up to 5% cash back. Or even better get a gas company card, brand loyalty pays you in savings!

10. Don’t use E85. What? But the government said it’s going to be our saving grace and I want to help save the environment! I’m all for saving the environment when it is in my financial interest (like compact florescent lights that will pay for themselves), but if it will cost me more money, I’m less likely to do it. E85 is cheaper, and your car may run on it, but according to AutoTrader it contains 27% less energy than 87 Octane (the cheap stuff). That means you get 27% less MPG using E85. The only time it’s in your financial interest is when E85 is less than 73% of the cost of 87 Octane. At my local station, E85 is about 30-40 cents cheaper per gallon than 87 Octane. $3.20 / $3.50 is 91%… not in your financial interest.

I hope you can put these ideas to good use, and if you’ve got any more, feel free to leave them in the comments!

Tonight Mary and I had the chance to eat at a very wealthy person’s house in Dallas.  This house is AMAZING.  This house is probably 10,000 square feet, and they had a “mile of wood trim” throughout their game room.  It was very impressive, and it sits on one of the most visible places in North Dallas, on the corner of a busy intersection.  The house is designed like a castle, and sits far enough back where you hear no road noise and you can’t see any of the streetlights because of the size of the lot and how the house is situated.  I could probably tell most people in Dallas what house it was and they would know exactly what I’m talking about.

The couple who own it are definitely a “power couple,” he’s a doctor, she’s a lawyer.  As I walked through I was thinking about the ridiculous mortgage payment they must have for their $2+million house, until I heard the most amazing thing all night… THEY PAID CASH!    

They built what they could when they could afford it, and while this isn’t for everyone, I applaud them for being debt free and staying together for what I’m sure was a hectic process.  They started the house on January 1, 1990, they moved in to the garage apartment 3 years later, and the house was under continual construction since then.  They just recently finished about 5 years ago, and they really did a great job with it.

Note: At the suggestion of a reader I am splitting the post into two separate pieces.  Stay tuned for 10 Steps to Haggling!

When I was younger I had very low self esteem, there was no reason for me to be shy and scared to talk to girls, but I was.  I was scared of them saying no, or even worse, laughing at me.  I’m not a bad looking guy, but this fear was very real.  My older brothers would try to help me with this by bribing me to go up to girls and ask them out, but I only successfully did this once…and by successfully I mean I actually asked the girl out; she said no.

The only reason I met my wife is because she had a mutual friend set us up on a blind date after seeing me in a picture.  I would have never “sacked up” and asked her out on my own, but considering I was put in a situation where it would have been very awkward, and quite frankly rude, for me not to, I asked for her number and waited the obligatory 3 days to call her.  Ladies- for an insight into a guys mind during this “waiting period” watch the movie Swingers.

When I first started to haggle I would get the same knots in my stomach as I would when I would be scared to ask a girl out or tell her that I liked her.  I was scared, scared that the salesman or manager might think less of me, scared they would say know, scared they would be offended.  Why was I scared?  I really don’t know, I never had a situation that scarred me, but I think it all stems from my historically low self esteem (now practically gone thanks to my wife!).

Today when I was haggling for a new pair of over-priced running shoes, I happen to be haggling with a cute woman, and it all clicked!  The nervous feeling I would get when wanting to ask a girl out is the same nervous feeling I get when haggling…except haggling is way easier.  Haggling is a confidence builder!

I rarely get turned down when I haggle, and when I do it’s never a big deal, I leave with my pride, and confidence still in tact that I tried, so I have no regrets.  This has built my confidence up greatly.  That is confidence that I could easily turn around into “technique” and confidence for picking up women (not that I ever would, I am very happily married).  I will have to find someone to try this technique on, but I’m positive it will work.  Haggling is the best confidence builder I’ve had…besides getting married.

I implore you all to at least try haggling, whether you get a discount or not it ends up being a rush so it feels good afterwards, but when it does work and you save some money, it builds your confidence, and you get that rush.  Also, as an added bonus, if the salesperson is a member of the opposite sex you can subtly flirt and complement the person to help you haggle!  Pretty soon, haggling will be no big deal, and you can turn that confidence and flirting into picking up members of the opposite sex!

Note: I sincerely apologize for the lack of posts over the last week.  It has been a very hectic week for Mary, Myself, and My family.

For the first time in my adult life I experienced positive peer pressure, and it made me glad to have the friends I have.  The other night I called one of my former roommates, who is a very good friend of mine and I caught him in the middle of a beer pong game with a fraternity brother of ours.  We all graduated at the same time, all with double degrees, all with finance as one of them.  We spoke about how things are going in life and our conversation came around to finances. 

My former roommate told me that he decided to splurge his tax refund on a new set of golf clubs to celebrate his year in the workforce and a recent promotion.  The conversation went something like this, I will use R for the roomate and G for my other friend (They have me I’m on speakerphone… mid beer pong game):

Me - Nice!  Congratulations…that’s a pretty big purchase!

R - I know, but I’ve already funded my 401(k) and started funding a Roth IRA for the year and I wanted to splurge on something nice as a reward.  Are you and Mary funding your 401(k)’s?

Me- Unfortunately we don’t get 401(k)’s until we have been at the company for a year because of high turnover in our industry.

R & G- THAT SUCKS!

Me- I know, BUT we have both fully funded our Roth IRA’s for 2007.

G- Very good.  So you’ve each got your 4 grand sacked away… that’s impressive.

Me- Thanks.  Have you been funding yours?

G- Absolutely, and I’m saving all the rest of my money for an engagement Ring…

Towards the end of our conversation we all agreed to peer pressure another friend into making sure he is saving and on a good track.

Maybe it’s just my circle of friends, but I’m starting to think that we might be getting it!  We have seen family members want to retire but not be able to, we have seen friends and family get in way over their heads in debt, and we don’t want it to happen to us!  The credit crunch/recession/whatever you want to call it may end up being a good thing for our generation because we are seeing first hand what can happen when your priorities are not in line, and we are learning from it!  We are learning from other people’s mistakes and enriching our own lives because of it. 

I am very proud of my friends for having their priorities in line by not getting caught up with excess, splurging when everthing else is taken care of, and still making time for fun by enjoying a good game of beer pong on a weeknight.  Way to go guys!

On second thought I may have gotten ahead of myself, I need to call them back and make sure they have emergency funds as well… I will update.

Update:  I checked back with R.  And I am pleased to say that he has quite a few separate funds set up.  He says that he has an Oh Shit fund (read: emergency fund), 401(k), Roth IRA, and a mid-life crisis fund (which apparently could double as a house down payment fund as well).  Wow…good job R!

When Did Frugality Cease Being a Virtue in Our Society?  Really no matter how far you look back in history Frugality has always been a virtue.

 ”He who gathers money little by little makes it grow” - Proverbs 13:11

Here the bible calls upon us to save where we can, even a little bit helps, and by doing so we can watch it grow. 

 ”For age and want, save while you may; no morning sun lasts the whole day” - Benjamin Franklin

 Here, one of the greatest American’s to ever live writes that you need to have an emergency fund.  You can spend on your wants all day when times are good, but if you don’t save for a rainy day you’ll be in trouble later on.  Benjamin Franklin is documented in many occasions preaching the virtues of frugality, in Advice To A Young Tradesman, Benjamin Franklin writes:

“In short, the Way to Wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the Way to Market. It depends chiefly on two Words, INDUSTRY and FRUGALITY; i. e. Waste neither Time nor Money, but make the best Use of both. He that gets all he can honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary Expences excepted) will certainly become RICH.”

More recently, some of our most brilliant minds preached and lived frugally.  Henry David Thoreau lived frugally and documented it in Walden Pond.  He removed himself from the pressures of society so he could clear his mind.

Warren Buffet, one of the best businessmen in the US, says, “If a business is worth a dollar, and I can buy it for 40 cents, something good may happen to me.”  In other words, look for bargains and buy low, that’s the way he has made over 30 billion dollars! 

As you can see frugality is in our history, but society has pushed back.  In most of the world if you don’t try and haggle with a salesman, you are considered stupid by the locals.  On the otherhand, when I haggle in America, people will look at me awkwardly and get confused.  

The surrounding world tells us that image is everything and that splurging makes us feel good. 

I prompted my dad with this question the other night, and I received a great response to why frugality is no longer considered a virtue.  This response allows you to connect all the dots.

It stems from the Great Depression.  The people who lived through the depression have known what it is like to be cash strapped, and to get the most out of every penny.   They know what it really means to have a “rainy day,” and they understand that, as Ben Franklin put it, “no morning sun lasts the whole day.”  The people that survived the Great Depression grew up knowing and understanding how important it is to save, but they also never wanted their children to go without like they had to do.

As a result, after the economy settled, there were great new inventions, and the wealthy began putting a TV in their living room.  Because one wanted to go without, the less wealthy followed.  However, no one wanted to drain their savings to purchase a TV, or Washing Machine, or Dryer, so payment plans began. 

Why drain all your savings when you can pay a cheap monthly payment?  What was there to understand?  For $30/ month, you could get what you couldn’t let your family go without, and at such a fair price!

Pretty soon, a ‘fair price’ became just the ‘price’ of an item, and haggling wasn’t needed because you could easily afford the monthly payment.  This increase in credit, made less people need to grasp the concept of frugality.

This is why I believe a generation grew up without learning to haggle or understand frugality.  And somewhere along the way, the term frugal got mixed up with the word “cheap.”

The United States is in the process of coming back around and understanding the perils of credit, and re-learning the virtue of frugality.  Right now, the US has a negative savings rate, and this will be hard to change, but I believe we are headed in the right direction.  A “frugal” search on Google will net you over 7.3 million hits, which is a sign that at least the internet community is getting it.  Hopefully our society is in the midst of realizing the error in our ideals, and will be working hard to get out of debt to become and continue to be financially free.