The Lavish Cheapskate–Everyday Strategies to Free Up Money and Recession-Proof Your Life!

In this tough economy almost every parent and family are looking for ways to save. And sure, everyone has heard that you should use a grocery list, and common sense says, “That’s a good idea,” but hardly anyone uses one. As Lavish Cheapskates, we habitually and systematically use a grocery list, the idea of which we should build upon. In this article, we are discussing a grocery list because first, it’s easy to do, and second, it is one of the most powerful ways to free up money immediately. Poor-Rich People go to the grocery store and actually considers using a grocery list but never get around to doing it. This leaves many openings to throw away money. They warrant more trips to the grocery store due to forgotten items, they increase impulsive spending, they waste gas and waste time, and they have no money-freeing grocery plan in place.

As Lavish Cheapskates, we always use a grocery list. We not only know exactly what we’re buying at the grocery store when we go, we have a list of the foods and items that are low cost. We buy with a plan to make quick and easy meals at home, which keeps us from eating out. We are very clear on what we need and stick to the list. We have the mindset that the grocery store is a tool to free up money, and we avoid costly mistakes such as eating out too often, running to fast food restaurants because there’s no time to cook, and making needless trips to the grocery store.

We don’t use emotional whims to steer us through the grocery store-we use our list to fulfill our needs and to build upon a lifestyle of freeing up more money. Our grocery experience is always a conscious experience, and we have it planned with a list in hand. Now let’s take it a step further and use a case-scenario comparison showing what happens when you choose to “do” with that freed up money to turn it into thousands of dollars…

Case-Scenario Comparison:

Janice-The Poor-Rich Person
Profile: 42 years old-started working full-time at the age of 23
Current Income: $36,000.00 per year
Personal Status: Single mother, two children
Investment Vehicle: None
Home owner with a mortgage of $120,000.00 at age 30
Paycheck Extension Account: None

Jill-The Lavish Cheapskate
Profile: 42 years old-started working full-time at the age of 23
Current Income: $36,000.00 per year
Personal Status: Single mother, two children
Investment Vehicle: 401K Contributing 17%-Current Value: $152,505.13
Home owner with a mortgage of $120,000.00 purchased at age 30
Paycheck Extension Account: $4,500.00-money market account

Let’s start with Janice-The Poor-Rich Person. Janice believes she is a savvy grocery shopper but doesn’t use a grocery list. She chooses what she will buy at the grocery store when she goes, rather than writing down and consciously planning what she will buy. She doesn’t know it, but her grocery necessities would only run $55 per week if she used a list. By not using a list of necessities, she buys things above and beyond the family’s needs and does so unconsciously. On average, she spends $99.00 per week. She also forgets necessities often, so she has to make an additional two trips per month costing about $25.00 each trip.

How much does this cost Janice? $473.00 a month.

Although Janice is unaware of it, her life would look significantly different if she used this strategy.
Now let’s take a look at Jill, The Lavish Cheapskate, who comes from the exact same background and see what she does with this strategy and the “freed- up money” she finds from this strategy…

Jill, the Lavish Cheapskate: Jill, being a Lavish Cheapskate, uses a grocery list. Her pay checks are smaller than Janice’s because 17% of her income goes to her retirement plan. She also has built up a Paycheck Extension Account (money-market account not penalized if she needs to use it). By paying herself first (by contributing to her 401K), Jill is already more conscious of her spending. She spends, on average, $55.00 per week on groceries. She does this by preplanning and knowing exactly what she will buy.

How much does all of this cost? $235.00 per month

Freed-up money for Jill? $238.00 per month!

What does Jill do with that freed-up money?
Since the purchase of her home, she has taken that extra $238.00 and has applied it to her mortgage (principal only payments). 

What’s The End Result? A Savings of $78,188.00 in interest alone.
AND… she takes 13 years and 8 months off her mortgage payments!

Here’s a spreadsheet to show this:
(Principal and interest only based on 6.5% interest rate; tax and insurance not included)

The difference between Jill’s world and Janice’s from this simple little shift is more than $78,100.00! And this isn’t including Jill’s 401K or her Paycheck Extension Account!

If we included these, the difference would be more than $235,100.00! But with this simple shift, Jill will own her home by age 47 (current age 42) and will have more freed-up money to leverage at that point! Her liberation has been greatly accelerated.

And all this was done by the two simple secrets-how you see money and what you do with money.
Jill has used the freed-up money from using a grocery list that Janice has thrown away and simply put it in a different place!

Biography

Ardy Skinner is The Lavish Cheapskate
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