False Economy

I'm still on the "be frugal" bandwagon over at my "Get Out Of Debt" site .. but increasingly.. the ideas I've come across are silly at best, logically ridiculous at worst.

Here are a few that didn't make the cut:

1. Newspaper subscription solely to get coupons. Wow. We haven't had a subscription since my daughter began to read, and even then.. it was something like $25.00 a month for the paper. When I do coupons.. I usually only save $20 or so a week on groceries, unless I happen to get a double bundle of coupons in that paper. So.. kill a tree, spend money, for the priviledge of losing money(not to mention that I feel obligated to use those coupons, which translates into more trips to the grocery).
*Here's a better idea. If you do coupons.. go to Ebay, Phoenix Freebies or your local Grocery store recycling bin for paper. You can "buy" coupons (illegal to buy/sell them.. you are usually paying for the time and effort) that are exactly what you want for pennies(saving you time, money and hassle). A good friend of mine gets 5-10 papers a week from Kroger's paper recycling bin for free.. and she saves a ton, and has enough duplicates to take advantage of combining a coupon with sales. No need to get a newspaper subscription. That's what the internet is here for.

2. Gardening as a way to save money. If you get lucky.. you might. Most people don't though. The "necessary" supplies really add up, and my "hobby" usually costs us about $200.00 a year. We might save $80.00 by not buying peppers.... hardly frugal.

3. Buying clearance clothes that require dry cleaning. Always figure out the potential care costs before buying something. That includes your time too... something that will be ironing intensive probably won't get used much.. so save your money and invest in more practical choices.

4. Getting a job.
Probably not intuitive.. but when I figure how much I can earn versus my costs (fuel, wear and tear on my van, spending $, childcare, clothes), we'd have a negative balance, and that's before figuring out how much "value" I can add by staying home. Thinking about breastfeeding versus formula... my 6m old sun went through $50.00 of formula a WEEK.. that adds up fast, and if I worked.. I'd have to supplement (pumping doesn't work out for me).
Doing in-home childcare is just as bad. Getting paid peanuts to expose my children to germs, our family to liability, and reduce our ability to be spontaneous (park on sunny day etc) just isn't worth it. The only job that I might be able to afford. would be something like selling on ebay, or my stock trading hobby (needs more time than I have right now!). Always factor in the costs.
Changing jobs to get more pay but less benefits. At risk of being repetitive.. ALWAYS count the costs!