Do you ever skip breakfast?

If so, congratulations! You’re eating the ultimate frugal breakfast: a breakfast of nothing!

Of course, while that might be a nice frugal victory, we all know that we shouldn’t skip breakfast. It’s very often described as the most important meal of the day. When you eat breakfast, you’re literally breaking the “fast” that took place while you were sleeping. You consumed no nutrients since the prior day, so your body needs to be nourished to get a new day started on the right foot.

It has been shown that people who skip breakfast, and make up for it later in the day, tend to consume more food later when they eat. Additionally, when hungry, they tend to be more likely to eat higher-calorie, less-nutritious food as well.  Furthermore, without breakfast, we just don’t have the right energy in the morning to optimize our health and attitude as we get the day going.

Ok, so we know that we must eat breakfast. But how can we do it cheaply, and nutritiously?

For me, the choice is oatmeal. Now, I have to say that I never grew up eating oatmeal. I ate more of the processed, sugary cereals that line supermarket shelves than I probably should have. Let’s chalk that up to the ways of the 1970′s and 1980′s (I just can’t blame my Mom and Dad!). 

These days, however, it’s almost like a habit to start the day with oatmeal. While I occasionally have a homemade, nutritious smoothie, it’s oatmeal that’s usually for breakfast.

Why oatmeal? Well, besides tasting good (at least to many of us), oatmeal has the following 3 big benefits:

1) Helps you lose weight by controlling cravings

2) Helps reduce LDL cholesterol

3) Is good for diabetics, as it slows the digestion of starch

4) Provides a good source of protein, fiber, and nutrients

And here’s the part that’s exciting to the frugally-oriented:  it’s very inexpensive.

I recently bought a canister of quick oats, in a non-name brand version, and paid $0.99 for 16 ounces. This comes out to about 11 servings of 1/2 dry cup of oats, which represents exactly how much I have in the morning.

Basic math tells me that I paid $0.09 for my morning serving of oatmeal. That’s it. Nine cents!

Now, I do like to doctor up the oatmeal a bit, and supercharge it with additional nutrients. I usually, depending on the day, add one, two, or all three of the following:

• 1/2 tbsp flaxseed – cost $0.04
• 3 strawberries – cost $0.40
• 1 banana – cost $0.20
• Sprinkle of cinnamon – cost $0.01

The total cost of this breakfast ranges from $0.09 for the basic version to $0.74 for the fully-loaded version.

It’s been a great way to start the day for me, as I’m getting nutrition and doing it at a reasonable cost – without too much prep time.

What about you? Do you have any breakfast favorites that are both quick and relatively nutritious, that would appeal to the frugally-oriented among us?

This article was included in Festival of Frugality #233 at Learn Save Invest

In the 5th installment of Squirreling Gone Wild, I’ll go back to a story about my old college buddy. While the last SGW post went away from the college buddy and covered an airport carry-on loophole, I’m thinking its time to revisit another extreme penny pinching tale from the past.

Much like some  previous examples – gas station penny trick, picking up change from under the drive through, etc – the following example is one that I personally don’t advocate for mature adults Rather, its an interesting example of how people will go to great lengths – often crossing lines of self-respect – to pinch pennies.

In this case, lets go back 20 years, to undergraduate days. By the way, as a side note -  just typing 20 years makes me realize how time flies, and things move fast. Anyway, back to the story. At the school at which I did my undergraduate work, sometimes people would grab lunch at the main library cafeteria. Depending what your class schedule was, or if you needed to be studying at the library, this might be your only choice to grab a meal or snack if you weren’t carrying your own. Needless to say, as college students, most people weren’t carrying their own food!

This cafeteria offered standard fare: sandwiches, pizza, snacks, drinks. I would occasionally go there and would often run into the same friend who invariably would have popcorn and a soda as a snack. No big deal, but what was interesting  was how he purchased them. A box of popcorn cost $0.50, and a drink cost $0.75.

He would first get a tray, the standard cafeteria-style offering. Then, he would go the popcorn bin, grab a popcorn box (much like at a theatre), and fill up the bag with popcorn. But he didn’t just fill up the bag with pocporn – he showered the bag with popcorn, as if it were a popcorn hurricane. The aftermath was a cafeteria tray that had a mound of popcorn, with a popcorn-filled box buried within the larger mound.

Next, he would get a 32 oz fountain drink (or about 946ml for our Canadian friends). He would fill up the cup with diet coke, would take a straw, but would not put a lid on the drink. Rather, he would go to the cashier line – usually 3 or 4 customers ahead of him, and look for the “stamp of the day”. So, what was this mysterious stamp? Well, it was a stamp that the cashier would apply to a 32 oz drink lid, so that the customer could get a $0.25 refill that day if he or she wanted. The stamp was only valid that day.

After going to the cafeteria long enough, this guy noticed that there were 4 possible stamps, and that the cashiers used one specific stamp per day. The stamps seemed to rotate somewhat randomly by day, but you never knew for sure what stamp would be. So, what he did was he saved the stamped lids from prior cafeteria visits, and then kept them in his backpack. As he got closer to the cashier, he peered over the customers ahead of him to see which stamp the cashier was using that day. Then, he reached into his backpack, and pulled out an old lid from a prior visit, which happened to have today’s stamp. Then, he put the lid on the drink, and ultimately paid $0.25 for the drink as if it were simply a refill, instead of $0.75.

Devious? Yeah, I think so. I couldn’t do it. But it was funny to see someone else do it, and do it over and over. Even funnier was his delight at gaming the system.

So, basically, instead of paying $1.25 for a drink and box of popcorn, he paid $0.75 for a drink and the equivalent of two boxes of popcorn. He would eat what was in the box (you know, the one buried in the popcorn avalanche), and then refill the box with the rest of the popcorn covering the tray and take it to go. He looked at this as paying $0.75 for a $1.75 value.

Extreme penny pinching that went too far, but could be excused as youthful immaturity. What I find interesting are more “grown up versions of extreme penny pinching. Do you have any examples from either yourself or someone you know, in terms of adopting offbeat yet above-board ways to save a few dollars or cents?

I have had a few conversations lately with people I know, as well as several in the media, regarding extreme frugality.  Some examples that I see are inspiring, many are entertaining, and some just way out there and over the top. Some, as I have alluded to, cross the line by taking advantage of others or causing one to lose self-respect. So, there is a spectrum when it comes to extreme frugality, ranging from very good to very bad.

That said, stripping away the inspiration, entertainment, and morality issues related to some of these tactics, a key question remains: Is it worth the time? Is it worth going to extreme measures to save money – even pennies – when it costs time to do so?

This is where it appears many people are not fully thinking through the value of their time. I have certainly fallen into that at times, and I’m guessing we all have at one time or another. Its important to keep in mind the value of our efforts in terms of the precious time we spend on such time saving efforts.

To illustrate, lets take the example of a person with the following hypothetical employment situation:

Wages: $50,000 annual salary

Work Day: Standard 8-hour day. 

Days Worked: 250 days per year (factoring in 5-day workweek, plus holidays/vacations)

For this person, his total imputed hourly rate is $25 ($50,000 / (8*250)). Thus, before taxes and other deductions, this person sells time to an employer at a rate of $25 for every hour on the job.

Lets say that this person’s employer came back to him and said that they wanted him to work overtime on a special project. This project would not lead to a better performance review, nor would it provide a leg up for promotion. Additionally, it wouldn’t provide experience that could benefit your career, nor would it impact his job security. All this said, the employer would pay him $5 if he spent an extra hour working on this project each week.

Would this employee, who normally gets paid $25 per hour, jump for joy at the possibility of making $5 more if he works that additional hour on this non-value added special project? I suspect that this employee might evaluate this, and think: “Why should I get paid $20 less – or 20% of my regular pay – to do this? It’s not worth my time!“

Its something to think about as we spend time devising ways to save money.

Is it worth $5 to spend an hour round trip, to shop at a cheaper grocery store?

Is it worth $5 to spend an hour driving to buy that printer that’s cheaper at the store which is a 20 mile drive from here?

Is it worth $5 to use that coupon to buy a new pillow at the store in the next town over, when I could spend just buy it at the store right around the corner?

Is it worth $5 to hunt for bargains online for an hour, when I could just go to the site I know and buy my product in a matter of minutes at the price offered?

When you frame these “savings” in terms of opportunity cost such as in these examples, it provides another perspective on frugality: Sometimes it not worth our time to focus excessively on extreme frugality.

Of course, I’m presenting this as a purely dollars and cents argument here. Sometimes people feel great pride in finding a bargain, and take on frugality as hobby – the thrill of the chase. In that way, if it works for someone, so be it:) Its also understandable that if frugality becomes a habit – a way of life – then this mindset can provide benefits in other decision scenarios.

I’m all for sensible frugality. It’s a great practice! That said, on an individual case-by-case basis, its worth thinking about the value of time when trying to save money. Every little bit helps, but if it costs us all of our time, it makes sense to re-evaluate that investment of time. Because while money can always be made, new time can’t be made!

This article was included in Festival of Frugality #229 at Prairie Eco-Thrifter

The good life…..a beautiful home in a tony neighborhood. Private schools. A high end luxury car or high performance car – maybe both. Cool vacations. Frequent nights out for expensive dinners or entertainment. Shopping for nice clothes, the newest gadgets. All the best for today, and tomorrow is another day.

All of this is what many people have seemingly aspired to – or have gotten caught up in. Whether it’s the desire for nice things just for the sake of having them, or it’s the drive to keep up with the Joneses and maintain an image, many Americans have been working for this type of life.

Many people still keep this approach. I’m willing to guess that even if these tendencies have been muted lately in a lot of people, they are still there and are just dormant for now but will re-emerge. However, for others, the recent economic conditions in this country– namely the manifestation in job losses, home value declines, and the topsy-turvy stock market – have caused a shift in perspectives when it comes to money and its role in our happiness. It may be a smaller segment of the population, but for some, being frugal is now cool.

I can relate, because I’m one of those, to a certain extent. Now, I have always had some focus on saving and investing, but have aspired to some of those nicer things to a certain degree. I still want certain things, and do set long-term goals that I am working toward when it comes to those things. Goals are great, and its fun and exhilarating to work toward them. But higher on my list is living within my means and saving for retirement, medical issues, unexpected financial emergencies, and overall financial peace of mind.

Why? Because these economic times have left the impression on myself and many others that ups and downs in the economy WILL happen, and to large extent, most of us WILL be impact to some degree. Some of us be impacted a little bit, some of us will be impacted tremendously. These ups and downs have caused people to take another look at what is truly necessary in day to day life, and how limited financial resources should be allocated.

Is it worth living in an expensive house with big mortgage payments and tax liability, that don’t go down even if the value of the house goes down? Is the house truly an asset as many of us have been raised to think, or can it be a huge liability as many going through foreclosure have come to find out? Is it worth driving an expensive car with monthly payments? Or is it worth spending far less, perhaps paying cash up front, and saving the extra money?

Ultimately, what many people have found out is that the income streams that most people use to feed their families are not guaranteed. If a job is lost, there might not be a replacement job to be found in short order…it may take a long time, and the replacement job may not pay a salary comparable to what was made before. That’s if a replacement can even be found in the same industry or line of work. With limited or uncertain income, what should we focus on first?

Many people are realizing that its best to focus on necessary daily expenses while preparing for future cash flow needs that could result from loss of job or the medical or unexpected financial emergencies I mentioned before. The stress of meeting needs today has jolted people into thinking about the rest of their lives. Is it worth it to have all of the finest things today, while worrying about tomorrow some other time? Or, is it better to live with the necessities today, and forego the finer things for additional savings instead?

What’s the tradeoff? It’s the mental dissonance of living with less than you technically could purchase now, knowing you could buy more – in exchange for the peace of mind that you have by knowing that you are taking pressure off yourself in future years. In its simplest form, it could be seen as delayed gratification. But looking at it further, its risk management because today you have income, but you really don’t know what could happen in the future. You might not have income, or you might have it but have massive cash outflow. Smartly, many people are in a way “self-insuring” themselves by living on less today so that they preserve the possibility of at least living on something in the future. Given that positive cash flow appears less certain now, in the minds of many, the value of that peace of mind that comes with saving has increased. Yes, the value of savings not just in monetary terms but in peace of mind has increased. In the overall scheme of things, savings are more important now than before to many people.

Pulling these thoughts together, what it comes down to is that the fear of financial problems has changed the value equation for what we invest our money in. Instead of buying all the luxuries in life with our current income, many of us are valuing peace of mind and financial FREEDOM more. And it redefines what it means to be “rich” – not just having money to buy the best things or luxuries, but enough money to reduce pressure on our minds and bodies. It’s cool to have freedom, and live responsibly and be out of financial misery.  It’s not as cool to talk about how you bought a big house 3 years ago with big payments, one which has declined in value substantially since then and your hard-earned equity has been wiped out.

Ah, the good life……a good enough home in a safe neighborhood with quality public schools. A practical, fuel-efficient, safe car. Inexpensive family getaways. Inexpensive, meaningful family activities for entertainment. Shopping for good, reasonably priced clothes on sale, and the technology we truly need. At least we have the basics for today, and the basics for tomorrow. And if we’re smart, maybe tomorrow will offer those finer things. That peace of mind makes us truly rich.

This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance – Blogthority.com Relaunch Edition! Make More Money Blogging edition