The Cheapskate List - From That Chilliwack Girl!

Yesterday I did a post called: The Pantry Recession - The Coupon Lover's Heaven ....so if  you're serious about Hard Core Cheap - THIS is the  Cheapskate LIST!   Its a bit tongue and cheek so don't get bent out of shape o.k.? :-) 

 
1. Don't have children.
The days when having kids meant you were growing your own farm-hands are long gone. They are an inefficient (and unreliable) retirement plan for your old age. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, having kids is a very expensive hobby.
2. Create, live by, monitor, and update a financial and life plan.
Day to day decisions are so much easier if you have a guiding plan with clear goals. You'll feel good about your documented progress. You'll be able to examine and adjust behaviors that aren't working. Know why you're being cheap.
3. Think before you spend.
Question every purchase. Do I need it, or want it? How long did it take me to earn this? Is there a cheaper alternative?
4. Adopt a physically healthy lifestyle.
Healthy living is cheap at the start (no expensive cigarettes, fresh, unprocessed foods are the least costly items you'll find at the supermarket, exercise moderately - no gym membership needed), in the middle (most health care costs are incurred due to preventable, lifestyle diseases), and in the end (life insurance is cheaper for the healthy, and terminal illnesses are usually shorter, less costly).
5. Marry, and make your marriage a partnership. Two can live almost as cheaply as one.
Statistically, If you can find a friend who will be your partner, you'll be happier, healthier, and wealthier. To marry for love is grand. Marrying for convenience has been good enough for most of human history. Combine both, and you're a very lucky cheapskate.

6. Don't divorce.
Love the one you're with, or prepare to hire attorneys, cut your savings at least in half, and support two households where there once was one. Serial monogamy is another very expensive hobby.
7. Use debt only as a means to increase income, never to satisfy immediate desires.
Debt is not bad in and of itself -it's a tool. Be sophisticated enough to learn not just how to avoid it, but when and how to use it effectively.
8. Develop your own "out-of-the-mainstream" tastes - be a contrarian.
When you cultivate a personal style that's not determined by what your neighbors own or what advertisers want you to buy, you'll be able to get your toys for less!
9. Never spend more than you make.
A simple rule that you may only break when you find opportunity for greater earnings. Run your personal finances like a business. You'll know opportunity when you see it, if you have a plan (see step 2, above).
10. Educate yourself.
Become an expert on the things you must buy including insurance, auto maintenance, food, clothing, health care. Learn to identify trends in order to jump in early, or avoid them altogether. With knowledge, you can question convention and find your own, better, way. You can't be an expert on everything, so know your weaknesses and learn the value of hiring trusted professionals such as accountants, lawyers, doctors - and barbers! Learn enough to question their advice and be their partner in representing your interests.

....there's more to being cheap than can fit in a top ten list:
11. Shop for value, not price.
The lowest price isn't necessarily the cheapest. Look for inexpensive quality in unexpected places.
12. Separate money from emotion.
Treat money like a fact and derive neither pleasure nor anxiety from it. Let your spending be governed by logic and planning. Having said that, you're not a machine. Allow yourself a safety valve and know when to let up and have fun in order to avoid melting down and going on a spending spree~

What do you think?

Source: 

Planet Cheapskate 

If you or someone you know is thinking of Buying or Selling property in Chilliwack, Hope, Abbotsford, Langley or anywhere in the Fraser Valley Area of B.C. - or if you would like more information please give Liz  Moras of Landmark Realty Chilliwack a call at- 604-799-0459 or e-mail at lizmoras@gmail.com.