Those of you who are regular readers might remember the story I shared about the big league ballplayer who lived with his parents while making a $400,000 annual salary. Reactions ranged from “it’s a great idea” to “it is time for him to move out and grow up”, with a variety of thoughts in between.

Now, along comes a story about a ballplayer who goes even further with his frugality – at least in my view (you may disagree). Yahoo! Sports had an interesting article about a major league player who took a money-saving approach when sent down to the minor leagues. He has since been recalled, but he clearly took measures to save himself some money while his major league career was on hold.

Apparently, the player had been on the big league club last year, and had leased an apartment for himself and his family (wife and daughter) in Pheonix. After being in the big leagues in 2009, and with the major league minimum salary at $400,000 this year, it seems that it shouldn’t be much of a problem for any player to get a nice rental in Phoenix that’s within his budget. On top of that, one would think that he would have plenty of money to spare, especially after earning a fat paycheck last season.

That may be the case, but nevertheless, Roberts was sent down to the minor leagues earlier this season, to the team’s Triple A affiliate in Reno, Nevada. At that point, it appears that despite having the potential to be called up to big leagues later this season -which did in fact end up happening – he seems to have pulled out all the stops to protect his cash flow.

What did he do? Well, since he already had that rental for his wife and daughter back in Arizona, he decided not to rent a place for himself in Reno. Yes, he was basically a homeless professional athlete – and by choice!

The guy apparently slept in the locker room when the team was in Reno. He had showers right there, and was able to make sandwiches from the supplies in the kitchen. Since he already had one apartment lease payment, he didn’t want to spend anything on a lease in Reno. When he was on the road, he stayed in hotels with the team.

That reminds me of a guy from my college fraternity, who described his living plans for one year as just “crashing on a friend’s couch”. Yep, no fraternity house (and fees), no apartment lease = no cash outflow for that guy. Ultimately, he moved back in to the fraternity, as one would have expected. He was actually a very smart guy, oddly enough. He just didn’t have the money, apparently.

That’s what makes this interesting to me.When a college fraternity guy won’t even do that, it’s interesting how a professional ballplayer, particularly one who spent a chunk of time earning a big salary, was able to take the step to do it.

Anyway, I think the ballplayer’s approach may have been over the top, as he might have been able to rent an extended stay hotel room instead, but I commend him for his frugality. At least he apparently realizes the value of maximizing your income minus expense gap, and is willing to make sacrifices to keep that going. In spirit, I think that’s pretty cool, even if he was excessive. Hundreds of millions of people live in far worse conditions. At least his wife and child were resting comfortably in their Arizona rental:)

What do you think? Is this a nice example of smart frugality?

We have all seen people who go to extremes to save money. Ok, I’ll admit, I have taken part in the sport of frugality on occasion:) 

That said, I do have some ground rules for saving money. I often talk about not taking advantage of others when trying to save – very important in my book. Additionally, I won’t intentionally make life hard just to save a few bucks, and this includes anything which compromises health.

Of course, we are all different - which is why there are occasional examples of people employing, shall we say, “interesting” ways to save money. In this 10th edition of Squirreling Gone Wild, we’ll explore the idea of eating food that has seen better days!

The first example that comes to mind, and the one that got me thinking about this article, was a guy I worked with earlier in my career. This guy was a very bright individual, carried an MBA from a top program, and was respected for his quick mind. He was also quite quirky, and this extended to saving money.

One day, at lunch ironically enough (as I would find out), he was talking about being frugal. I think the rest of the table thought it was a weird topic, except me of course; I enjoyed hearing him talk about his money saving ways. As he kept talking, his quirky side came out. While he lost the rest of the table long before, he lost me when he talked about ways to avoid spending on his kids. He proudly told a story about how he had some yogurt that had expired, and had a cottage-cheese like consistency and some “fuzzy” stuff on top. He didn’t want to waste it, so he scraped off the fuzzy growth and gave the kids the spoiled yogurt.

Blechh! I just can’t play that game.

Another example comes from a person with whom I worked some years back who was telling a story about having his inlaws over for a barbecue, but  noticed the day they were to arrive that the meat that was a bit spoiled. Mmmm, rotten hamburger! Anyway, he didn’t want to go to the store and spend any money on new food. He claimed to have used a marinade for the burgers, grilled them very well done, and loaded them with condiments to mask the taste.

He served them the spoiled meat. He claimed that he didn’t know for sure whether or not his inlaws felt a little bit sick afterwards or even noticed, but he was giddy with excitement over not having to throw away the spoiled meat. What a son-in-law.

Can you imagine doing things like that, serving kids or anyone, for that matter, spoiled food? Are you kidding me? I’m guessing (hoping) most of us wouldn’t ever engage in such nefarious practices. I certainly wouldn’t.

This got me thinking – while these examples sound bad as they involve others, how closely do all of us actually follow expiration dates when it comes to ourselves?  Not necessarily extreme cases like the above examples, but even food that is just past the expiration date.

Personally, I don’t like to eat or serve food that’s past the expiration date. Now, I’m not talking about the “sell by” date, but the “use by” date. If food is past that date, I’m not eating it.

Now, I realize that’s probably a strict approach. Frankly, there are people that might think that I’m wasting food by taking this approach. Not so frugal, they might say!

Well, not so fast, I say! When taking a big picture approach, I don’t think it’s worth the health risk to eat food that’s past expiration dates. Let’s say, for example, that you may be ok 99 out of 100 times. Fine, but that 1 time may be a very unpleasant experience. And I know that when I’m really sick, I don’t care about money or anything else, I just want my health.

What do you think? Do you eat food that’s past the expiration date? Have you gone as far as to follow the example of the characters above, and serve food well past the expiration date to others?

This article was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Money Stories #61 at Out of Debt Again

The World Cup is taking the globe by storm, as it always does every 4 years. While it’s still growing in interest here in my home country, the U.S., it’s The Big Event for many countries around the world.

As an American, I did not grow up following international soccer, and had no idea how popular it was until the year 2000, when I happened to be in France during the Euro Cup. It was a coincidence, as I had never heard of the Euro Cup. That changed quickly, as when atop the Eiffel Tower late one evening, I heard a huge roar sweep across Paris – then another a short while later. As I came down the elevator and left the Eiffel Tower to find a Metro station to go back to my budget hotel, I encountered cars honking horns, people yelling Vive La France!, and eventually rioting. I heard someone saying, in English, that France had tied the game with a late goal, and then won it in overtime. Hence, the two loud roars.

I had to run into a cafe for shelter as bottles were thrown in the street by the rioters, and police with shields charging in the middle of it. Considering I had no idea any kind of soccer tournament was even being played, it was quite a first hand introduction to international soccer mania!

This brings me to 2010. I caught a little bit of the World Cup on television, and noticed this loud, buzzing noise in the background. It was constant, and just didn’t stop for the time I was watching. BUZZZZZZZ!

Intrigued, I did some research and found that the buzzing noise came from a contraption called a Vuvuzela. These things are basically plastic horns that fans blow in unison to create the constant, streaming, buzzing sound that we hear while watching these games. It’s considered to be an essential part of the stadium experience while watching soccer in South Africa.

Check out this clip from YouTube:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeotaq04JcE&feature=fvsr

These things have created quite a stir in this year’s World Cup. There are many people who want them banned, as they feel that they’re distracting to the players and television audience. This has inflamed many people.

Of course I had to see how much these things cost. A quick search found them going for between approximately $7.50 to $12.00 each, excluding any shipping costs.

So inexpensive, yet so impactful. What a beautiful thing:)

I would like one of these. Maybe they’ll catch on here in the US, and I could buy one at the mall. Who knows?

I could just see it now….going to the mall, searching for bargains while the vuvuzelas are blaring in the background. BUZZZZZZZ! For many cutting, deal obsessed, penny pinching people out there, frugality is practically a sport anyway!

One more thing: as for the people wanting these banned, I say lighten up! They add a unique flavor to the whole World Cup experience.

It takes a highly positive, can-do attitude to be a great athlete. You have to have a vision to be the best you can be. Set high goals, work hard, practice, and demonstrate great determination. Make it all second nature, a part of your persona.  Then, after a lot of effort, commitment, and dogged perseverance, you make yourself into the athlete who wins the big trophy.

The frugality trophy, that is.

What? Did you think I was talking about sports or fitness?

Actually, I was talking about what it takes to become a great frugal athlete!

The term “frugal athlete” could mean many things. One definition could be an athlete that happens to be frugal. You know – someone who wants to get in shape without spending a lot of money. That would be a great topic, perhaps one for another article, but I’m talking about something different here. When I talk about a frugal athlete, I’m talking about someone who is a highly skilled, competitive athlete in the sport of frugality!

Let’s face it: there are many people that thrive on living within their means, and maximizing the income minus expense gap. To do that, you have to:

a)      protect and maximize your income earning potential; and

b)      maintain a disciplined approach to keeping expenses low

As financial athlete, you take the two together. We can call that cross-training:) But in terms of the sport of frugality, we will focus on the latter: managing expenses. 

So, how do you become a frugal athlete? Well, let’s just say I’m continually working on the “manual” as I train, day by day! But here is how I view it: 

1)      Visualize success. Just as athletes work toward the goal of winning a championship, making the game winning shot, or getting the clutch game winning hit, the frugal athlete can work toward his or her individual, overall financial goal. Within that goal is the sub-goal of reducing expenses to the lowest reasonable level at which a comfortable lifestyle can be lived. As with many things, what is “comfortable” is relative to each of our individual tastes. That said, it’s visualizing where you could be in terms of spending – living a waste-free life that’s comfortable, where you don’t throw away money but do get value for every hard-earned dollar you spend.

2)      Break apart the long-term goal into tangible, intermediate goals. Just as a pitcher in baseball learns his pitching mechanics, fastball, curveball, pickoff move, fielding skills, etc – you can break up your frugality goals into different tasks. These might include: deciphering wants vs. needs, knowing where to shop for groceries, learning how to obtain the best mortgage, learning the best sources for online coupons, etc.

3)      Train effectively. Just as an athlete works with knowledgeable trainers and uses the latest techniques, the frugal athlete should do the same. To me, this entails spending time learning from the most current and knowledgeable sources – such as books, blogs, and those who have achieved frugal success themselves.

4)      Practice Regularly and Routinely. Natural talent alone will not get it done here; you must work hard at making frugality a part of your daily routine. This could mean substitution: cutting out that $3 daily latte for a $1 cup of coffee instead. Or, it could mean cutting out that cup of coffee for water, thereby kicking that caffeine habit. Perhaps it means checking online for coupons before grocery shopping at a store with good prices, as opposed to going to a pricier store that you’re used to visiting. No matter how you do it, you have to practice. The more you practice, the better chance you have to succeed.

5)      Persevere. Just as an athlete must press onward in the face of obstacles, so must the frugal athlete. A basketball player, for example, may get up at 5:30am in the off-season to run sprints and keep in tip top shape. If he gets tired, loses focus, and skips a few days – then he slips back a bit in his conditioning. He needs to be mentally tough. With the frugal athlete, it means keeping your focus and discipline when you have weak moments. For example, you may want to give in to the temptation of buying a very nice pair of shoes at the mall, but when you realize it will blow your budget, you pass on the opportunity and head down to a less expensive store. Emotion can be a big obstacle to staying disciplined. 

Ultimately, the athlete who takes these steps will be in a great position to succeed and meet that big goal, be it winning a tennis tournament or achieving a personal best in a marathon. For the frugal athlete, taking these steps could lead to achieving the goal of bringing down expenses as a part of maximizing the income minus expense gap. The prize in this case could ultimately be financial freedom. 

Is this a bit esoteric? Maybe it is. But we can learn a lot about reaching goals and becoming our best from areas outside of personal finance. Applying these principles to our money management could lead to our own victories that bring us a higher quality of life. 

What do you think? Do you think that we can learn from other disciplines to become better at managing our money and reaching our overall goals?

This post was included in Festival of Frugality #232 at Provident Planning