Lottery Tickets
The odds of you getting hit by lightning, dying in a shark attack, and becoming a millionaire are higher than your odds at winning any sort of lottery.
A frugal person is never going to purchase a ticket to the greatest scam of a Vegas casino. They are well aware of the fact that lottery money will almost always go further somewhere else, the odds are against them, and lotteries are more likely to pull money from low-income people.
Instead, they may think of investing the same money in stocks; no doubt it still involves risk. But, if done smartly, it involves far less risk than buying lottery tickets. The odds of accomplishment are substantially better.
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23 thoughts on “10 Things Frugal People NEVER Buy”
I don’t consider myself a frugal person but I don’t buy a lot of things, especially lottery tickets, because my wallet doesn’t know what that green papers are that are supposed to be used.
Great information that we can practice. I have practice many of them and I will add the others. Can’t spend money twice. Thanks
NOT A GOOD IDEA if you like to write in the margins of your books.
Most often libraries sell used books for 25cents, 50cents and up to a dollar. They also sell C/D’s and DVD’s! You may want to check it out. I love the feel of a good book! Please check out your local library, or one in the next town. Enjoy!
I forgot to mention if the C/D’s, DVD’s etc., don’t work, you can return them! I have bought many C/D’s for the car and never have had a problem!
go to estate sales and buy a LOT of books dead cheap. Cherry pick the ones you want or give away and donate rest to Friends Of The Library! I once got 27 BOXS of Books when the Sellers asked why I wanted so many and the response was “TAKE THEM ALL!” Three trips later with SUV filled up.. and productive evening sorting them~!
I don’t consider my self a frugal person but I don’t buy lottery tickets (I used to), can’t afford a new car; in fact, not even a used car at today’s prices, don’t buy dry clean only clothes because our last tailor/dry cleaner retired last year but got rid of any dry clean only clothes a long time ago,, working on getting rid of cable but it’s hard because my husband doesn’t understand technology and would never be able to watch TV without me. I don’t buy clothes or get rid of those out of fashion because sooner or later, they’re back in fashion. I keep them in marked dated totes so I know which ones are now in fashion again. I do buy books but rarely…bought 5 within the last 20 years. The suggestions, however, are good for those people who have never been frugal and a good start.
Cathy
I just finished reading your article and found out I’m frugal without even realizing it. I only do 1 of the 10 things because my husband thinks he can’t live without his cable T.V. and I think I can’t live without my internet. We get the T.V./Internet package. I think I’m doing o.k. being frugal!
Well, I guess I’m fairly frugal. I only do two of the 10 things listed.
I agree with everything, with one caveat. Surprisingly, it’s lottery tickets. Every once in a while it’s fun to dream. Also a nifty cheap gift for dinner guests. Everyone goes home and check if they’ve won …
Actually A lot of dry clean clothes can be machine washed and do just fine as far as frugality just be a Minimalist… less is more
A lot of clothes with “dry clean only labels” actually can be washed. So before you ditch that “dry clean only” item in your closet, try washing it.
I would never buy a brand new car off the lot (though, if I ever won the lottery I might indulge lol, but still not likely) … as soon as you drive it off the lot it’s decreased in value. I occasionally buy a lottery ticket … as someone said, it’s a little bit for a nice dream, but I rarely do it. I love my books, but usually use the library or browse the zillions of free downloads on amazon kindle (and doesn’t require being amazon prime member) but I still buy books occasionally, if I see something I like that’s on sale really cheap because I love books and I love just holding them and looking at them and knowing I can keep it instead of having to return it to the library. I don’t buy the latest tech when it comes out. I rarely treat myself to a coffee, but it’s only Frappuccinos … regular coffee I use my Keurig for, don’t need to buy coffee every day … treated myself to a venti yesterday for the first time in months and I figured for those people who might get one every day going to work, they’re spending around $1500 a year for it. Once I calculated that I almost fell out of my chair, can likely get a really good Frapaccino machine for that and make them yourself. I don’t consider myself frugal, especially since I’m a shopaholic, I just choose what I spend my money on so I can buy more lol (and brand names don’t mean anything to me unless I can get it from around the same price as a non-brand name ). As for dry cleaning, I have some jackets that I have to do that with (special jackets, only choice with not to get them and that wasn’t really a choice to me) and I refuse to buy regular clothes that are dry clean only.
I disagree with the extended warranty. A repair man recently told me that with the degree of electronics and computerization in todays appliances they are bound to breakdown within 5 years. I have bought an extended warranty for my last three appliances. A washer, stove and dishwasher. I am glad I did. Each of those machines needed expensive repairs within a year. The $100 warranty on each machine was a bargain compared to the repair bill.
Well, I guess I AM frugal, by this definition. The only thing I buy nowadays are gold, silver, and old US coins. My favorite places to shop is at the Salvation Army and Dollar stores.
You can buy books, name brand clothes is you browse Goodwill. Some stores donate new clothes that don’t sell on clearance – tags still on
Lots of other really cool stuff like fishes and glassware and seasonal items.
I am frugal other than I buy a lottery ticket two or three times a year. Also, I donate items to Goodwill. If I need to replace worn out clothes I will stop at Goodwill and check out their clothing. Many times I have been able to find clothing that still had the tags attached. Garage sales and auctions are good places to find perfectly good items at lower prices. Just don’t over bid.
Look for Plus TV to add to your regular over-the-air channels. There are currently more than 400 channels and more get added occasionally as they negotiate contracts. There are older movie channels (especially Westerns); Spanish language channels; news channels; home improvement; cooking channels; children’s channels; and more.
Good article. As a low-income worker my entire life, I
was forced to become frugal throughout my life. It is
the natural way I think & live. Now in retirement, I have
had to cut necessary expenses even more so that I had some “discretionary” money to shop for important
items & occasionally an item I just want but do not really need, like a new inexpensive ukulele. The best
advice I can add is to find cheap auto insurance. It took me 40 years but I finally found a major insurance CO that would give me a good low rate for my economical sub-compact car.
I bought an extended warranty on my (expensive) Lenovo laptop and it was worth every penny because liquid ended being spilled on the keyboard and a tech came to my house within hours and replaced the keyboard. I think whether an extended warranty is worth it or not must be decided on a case by case basis which takes into how much the item cost to buy and must it would cost to replace a few years later.
Good grief! Reading is one of the things I lead a frugal life for! There are many books that I frequently reread and want at my fingertips. I love the public library and use it and a private library and the library of my Guild and a church library when available and the little library boxes in my neighbourhood. I use these resources a lot. But if tonight I feel like reading one of James Herriot’s animal stories or sharing a passage of TREASURE ISLAND with my grandchild I don’t want to have to put this on a list of things to pick up when I am in town running errands. I recently paid a tidy sum to replace a rare book I lost when a rainstorm crashed in the ceiling of my old house. I consider the money well spent. The book contains specialized hobby information not available elsewhere. I just about wore out the copy that was in the public library when I was a teenager. It has now been long out of print but is still the best work in its field. One of the reasons I live a frugal life is to be able to spend purposefully on books and music I need not settle for something someone feels I should have or something someone offers for free. I can choose. That choice is precious to me.
You can skip buying any streaming service and just get your DVD’s from the library. The can order most any current series from any of the pay channels and that’s if they don’t already have it.
While I think that the advice given is spot on, and I have always followed most of the suggestions, the most important one was left out: don’t part with a dollar on anything that is non-essential that you can’t afford. I remember in my 20’s when I was pretty poor, living from meager paycheck to meager paycheck, and not even sure if those would continue. I received out of the blue $100 from a relative that particularly wanted me to use the money on something non-essential. I thought about all of the things that I could buy for that $100, and rolled it around in my head for a couple of weeks. I ranked the list in my head based on seeing myself using each item in the future, as in how often I would use it. Once a week? Every day? Only in the summer time? I eventually bought a nice pair of running shoes and a cross-country ski outfit (boots, poles and skis – I was living in northern Wisconsin at the time, and could use the skis almost every day for several months). I skied a great deal winter after winter (the skis and such lasted more than 10 years of heavy use), and I used the running shoes for about three years frequently after the snows melted away. The point is 1) I didn’t buy something non-essential that I couldn’t afford, no matter how much I might have wanted it. I only bought it when I could afford to. 2) I considered all of the “toys” that I could have bought with the money on hand, and settled on those that would give me the greatest usage.