[pf] Frugal method, getting living costs down

Positive Futures people:
· I wrote a short piece on getting living costs down, for the e-mail letter: 

 Simple Times -- Vol. 3, No. 5  (August 12th, 2000);
"Semi-monthly mag on simple living by Deborah Taylor-Hough"; {To subscribe
to the free newsletter, send a blank e-mail message to:
join-simple-times@xc.org }

· One of the people responding to me about my Easy Budget method was Flor:

At 19:01 16/8/2000 -0500, Flor (in Mexico) wrote to David Mac, with
Subject: Thanks for EZ Budget

> Thanks, I needed your article to prove I can live on $5.00
> a week for food. Ya, some people think I am nuts.
> I live in Mexico & the fruits & veges are very reasonable. 
> Most foreigners shop in GUADALAJARA, an hours drive away.
> My last trip was 3 yrs. ago. I am very frugal, paying off a
>  medical bill of $80. a month doesn't help my budget.
> I am retired & grow a few veges. I shop & store food
> just like you do. Thanks again,
> Flor 

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· Marta, another appreciative person, asked whether she could put that
little piece on her own website. Of course I said "yes"; it's now at:

http://www.geocities.com/shermarsun/BudgetSystem.html

· My EZ Budget article in the e-mail version was:
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From: Simple Times <DSimple@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 16:20:54 -0700

X-URL: <http://members.aol.com/DSimple/index.html>

                                   The Simple Times
            A Free E-Mail Newsletter for Simple, Frugal Living
                                    ISSN: 1527-1269 

                        Vol. 3, No. 5 -- August 12th, 2000

 This twice-a-month newsletter is distributed in conjunction with:

                                A Frugal, Simple Life 
                      http://members.aol.com/DSimple/

                                           and

                                  Frozen Assets: 
                 How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month  
                    http://members.aol.com/OAMCLoop/
 

*************************************************
Copyright (C) 2000 Deborah Taylor-Hough. All rights reserved.
mailto:dsimple@aol.com

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IN THIS ISSUE:
-- "Dear Readers" ~ Changes, changes, changes 
-- Dinner at the Improv
-- An EZ-Budget System
 ...

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AN E-Z BUDGET SYSTEM
                     Submitted by David MacClement
mailto:d1v9d@bigfoot.com

I've got an easy way to budget; it's a special use of the shopping list.

Near the beginning of the 1990's, I spent an inordinate amount of time on our 
spreadsheet, tracking absolutely everything we spent. See the front page 
article in our local paper about me at: 
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/6783/macfamil.html#top

However, within the next few months, partly by accident, we changed to our 
current extremely easy system, and have cut our weekly shopping down to 
$80 to $100 for our family of four adults (two in their twenties).

This EZ-Budget System is: 

1)  Only go shopping once a week;

2)  Have two cupboards for all regularly used pantry and personal items 
-- a "stock" cupboard and a "current" cupboard; 
 
3)  Have a shopping list in an easily accessible place;

4)  Everyone writes down what's needed on the shopping list as an item is
moved from the "stock" cupboard to the "current" cupboard (or when you're
getting near the end of long-lasting items like shampoo);

5)  Nothing, and I mean nothing, is bought except what's on the list.  This
makes it frugal -- it means that someone actually decides it's needed
before it's put on the list and bought.  Of course, if someone wants to buy
their own stuff using their own money, that's up to them.  

I find everyone here is pleased with the system; for one thing, all the
essentials are always here -- we never run out.  But very little is spent;
we're all in favor of living frugally, even our twenty-six-year-old son and
twenty-three-year-old daughter still living at home (when she's not
visiting her boyfriend in Switzerland -- using the money she earns teaching
English to Mandarin/Chinese speakers).

It surprises me how much gadding-about-the-globe you can do if you're
extremely frugal at home. She spent most of a year in Beijing on her own
when she was twenty-one; paid-for in a similar way, but via a loan from us
oldies who have already done our visiting-strange-places.

Submitted by David MacClement
--Visit David online at: 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/

 ...
***************************************

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends.  :-)

******************************************

SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Book list for frugality and simple living
Go to: http://members.aol.com/DSimple/books.html

***************************************

DEBI'S BOOKS AND TAPES

Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891400614/simplepleasuresp/

A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide to Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891400495/simplepleasuresp/

Frozen Assets Audio Tape
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891400398/simplepleasuresp/

Living Within Your Means Audio Tape
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891400428/simplepleasuresp/

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sent to PF by David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html#top
******************************************************

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