Being frugal

Okay, I do a lot of fun things. When I go back to work after two days off, sometimes I feel guilty. I have so much fun, that I am a little embarrassed  to tell coworkers. It feels like bragging. One person said to me last year "your going to New Hampshire AGAIN???" to which I replied "the mountains aren't going to hike themselves". Truth is, I do a lot of things that I enjoy. Rarely, do I waste a nice day if the weather is nice. However, in many respects, I live my life in such a way I can do tons of stuff without making or spending a lot of money. I thought that if I wrote some of these money saving tips, maybe one or two could come in handy for the reader. First, three disclaimers

1. I have a lot of time. My son is grown up. So I pretty much can do what I want. When my son was little he played sports all year. I tried to get him to try different things, not just things I loved. However his love and best sport was baseball. From April until October we were at baseball 4-6 days a week for almost ten years. I loved it! When I was a coach, we would get there 45 minutes early and I'd hit ground balls. If any other kid got there early from either team, they were welcome to join in. Baseball took a lot of time. I know other parents that live and breathe baseball, cheerleading etc... One is at a cheerleading comp in Atlanta as I write this. These passions take a lot of time. No way could someone hike the mountains in New Hampshire when their kid goes from summer traveling team to Pop Warner football. So if you are a mother of two kids reading this, I do not think my life is better than yours. I loved making memories with my kid growing up, so although I love fishing and hiking, life is not better...just different.

2. I compare everything I do to a weekend in New Hampshire. The reason is, going to New Hampshire is my favorite thing I can do on a day off. This is a double edged sword. When I go to New Hampshire alone it only cost me about $40 for a weekend (that's my secret on how I get there so much). The only expenses I have are gas and food. Hiking is free, and if I fish, I buy my license in the winter. The problem with this is, I compare everything to this. Sometimes I can't justify concert tickets knowing I could go to New Hampshire for two and a half days, for less money than two and a half hours of live music.

3. Given the choice of doing something fun after work every day or saving up and doing a grand thing once a month, I choose the former every time. Luckily for me, my favorite things to do (hiking, fishing, and birding) are free. Other than the gas, it doesn't cost me anything to do these things almost everyday. Obviously, the closer to home I stay, the less money I spend. Which is why last summer was one of the best of my life. Stripers stayed in Narragansett Bay all summer only twenty minutes from my house. Other people might choose to go to a nice restaurant or get great seats to a concert once a month instead of going fishing every night. Again, how I choose to live life is not better, just different.

How I live at home

Now that I got that out of the way I have to be a little upfront about how I live-

1. I don't smoke
2. I don't drink
3. I don't gamble
4. I do not have any debt except car payment, One of my biggest fears is credit card debt, so I do not charge anything.
5. The better the gas mileage of your vehicle, the more places you can go for the same amount of gas money. I had a Santa Fe for eleven years. It got very good gas mileage for an SUV. When it was time to buy another vehicle I got a Corolla. I don't love it, but I can drive to and from Jamestown on three gallons of gas.

I get it, sometimes you want a beer. Sometimes, you want to have a few beers. For me personally, I do not like the hangover, so drinking isn't really for me. I had a quite a few on Aug 11 and woke up feeling like crap on Aug 12. So I am purposely going one year without a drink. I go weeks at a time anyway, but I decided to abstain for one full year for no other reason just to say I did.

As for the other things above, they are not for me. If you like gambling at Twin River so be it. Some people really enjoy it. For me, if I lost forty dollars in fifteen minutes (or as I said above, the amount of money I'd need to go to NH hiking) I'd be sick. Just by not drinking or smoking, I save a lot of money that I can use as disposable income.

Lastly, I rarely go out to eat. It's not to say I never do. When I do, it is to eat something specific, and not "as something to do". I love chicken wings and prime rib. I have favorite places to go for those things. I don't go often. As anyone reading this knows, for two people to go out to eat these days is no less than $35-40. It is certainly much more if you buy drinks or have kids.  And we have already established I can have two and a half days of hiking for the price of a meal.


Ways to save money doing fun things.

1. This will only save money on shipping but it is easier to swallow- I buy my supplies in the winter. If I need a new fishing rod, replacement gear, or a new tent, I buy them in the winter. This way, I don't need to buy an expensive piece of equipment when I could be using the money on fun. If I had to buy a new rod in July, it is safe to say, I wouldn't be going to New Hampshire for a couple weeks. The one way this does save money is- many online stores have free shipping in December. It feels a little weird ordering stuff for myself right before Christmas, but I do save money.

2. Ask for stuff for Christmas. It sounds selfish, I look at it as money in the bank. I make everyone give me a Christmas list and they ask for one from me. If I want a guide book, map, or small order of fishing gear I put it on the list.

3. My brother taught me this one. Instead of buying gift cards to stores, buy presents that are a night out. His wife will buy them tickets to a stand up comic, while he might get tickets to a musical. I have a hard time justifying the price of Red Sox tickets. But I can easily justify spending eighty dollars on  one of my son's big Christmas gifts growing up. So a couple years in a row, I got us tickets.

4. Buy carp bait when it is on sale. I use a lot of corn and oatmeal for carp fishing. When there is a ridiculous sale, I stock up.

5. Buying food on sale is another easy money saving tip. Why spend two dollars on a gas station Poweraid when you can get them for 69 cents at the grocery store? This is obviously a money saving tip in  general. During the summer I go through a lot of sports drinks and snacks.

6. When I go camping I tend to eat the same few foods each time I go. For breakfast I eat pop tarts. Lunch is usually a can of ravioli or sandwiches. Snacks are usually candy bars, fruit snacks, fruit, granola since I burn a ton of calories hiking. Suppers are soup, pasta, stove top, or mac and cheese. Again, when they are on sale I stock up.

7. Go to second run movie theaters. My brother runs a theater and I love going to the movies. However sometimes there is a movie I want to see but missed it. Yesterday I went to see Underworld at a second run theater. Cost- $3.

8. If you have been reading my blog, you have seen I have gone to a lot of plays. However, the most I have paid for a ticket was $26 and that was for second row seats. There are so many small theaters out there, and I really enjoy going to them. I'm sure I'd like the Lion King at PPAC, but to spend a hundred dollars for two hours isn't worth it to me. At least I haven't found a play I want to spend that kind of money on. Until then, I will support local theaters.

9. Camping is way cheaper than motels. State run campgrounds are way cheaper than private campgrounds. Camping isn't for everyone. Some people hate it. However, if you like it, camping will save you a ton of money. State run campgrounds in state parks and White Mountains will only run you $15-25 a night. Private campgrounds are closer to fifty. Private campgrounds offer pools, arcades, volleyball and many other activities. I spend almost the entire day off hiking or fishing, so my tent is really just a place to sleep.

10. If you can find places to camp for free, do so. I sleep in the woods sometimes. This means my "lodging expense" is zero.

11. When we go on vacation, we do not go out for three meals a day. We rarely go out to breakfast. Instead we prefer, fruit, pop tarts, oatmeal, or canned fruit. The meal we usually do is lunch if we are around tourist towns. In South Dakota we bought a burger and fries most everyday for lunch. Going out to lunch is way cheaper than supper. I prefer to eat supper at camp or looking at a beautiful view anyway. Obviously, if I'm hiking all day, and eat supper at camp, then I am not going out to eat at all saving more money.

12. Take care of your gear. If you take care of your gear, and you bought good quality stuff it should last for year. I have freshwater reels that are fifteen years old. My tent is five years old and like new. I've had my backpacking backpack (long trips) since DJ was five years old. This goes for many other things. I just had to buy a new lantern after fifteen years. My daypack which I love and use a lot is
showing its age with some thin spots, I'm going to keep using it as long as I can, I don't ever remember a time I hiked before owning it.

I hope some of this helps. I try to enjoy every afternoon after work and all of my days off. If you try to have fun five or six days a week, obviously you need cheap entertainment. Luckily for me, even if I were a millionaire my favorite things would still be hiking, fishing, and birding. I'd just be doing them in more exotic locations.