The more I poke around the frugal blogosphere, the more I realize that I’m the antithesis of the the average, frugal housewife.

I’m not religious, we live in an apartment, we have student debt and aren’t obsessed with paying it off, we bought our ‘new’ (used) car with a loan, we have multiple credit cards and use them, I think working the CVS bonus bucks is too much work…

I guess it just goes to show that there really are a million ways to live frugally. And since I’m the odd (wo)man out, I think I’m going to start blogging about how we handle our finances. I don’t think Dave Ramsey is the best thing since sliced bread and I’d like to be a voice of dissent.

That said, we just reached $14k mark on our savings for a house. We’re choosing to buy a house before we pay off our other loans because we feel that our monthly rent is just ridiculous, and if we’re going to spend that kind of money, we might as well get equity out of it.

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When my dad traveled the continental US back in the 70′s, they often slept in the car. Since most of us are completely unwilling to do that anymore, (and for good reason,) here are some cheap ways to get some shut eye.

1. Stay with friends and family. What a great way to catch up! Just don’t abuse the privilege by staying too long or taking advantage of relatives you’ve never actually met before. And don’t forget to write a thank you note.
2. Camping. If you’ve got the gear, camping is a great way to get close to nature and save a little money. It probably won’t be worth your while to buy all your camping supplies if you don’t plan to do it often, but if you have it (or can borrow it), why not? Just beware of rising prices during holidays.
3. Hotels and Motels. Thanks to the magic of the internet, you have a whole host of ways to save money on hotels and motels. If you stay out of the way of large cities or tourist attractions, you can get nicer rooms for less money.Before you decide on a hotel, check out Travel Advisor and Travel Post. They have saved me from many a bad night. Then, try using a bargin finding service like Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz. Remember to look into any discounts you may be entitled to as well (military, AAA, government, etc.)

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Seeing as you’ll be driving on the road trip, it is important to get good gas mileage if you don’t want it to become the most expensive vacation you ever took.

Like we discussed in part one, your car should have all its regular maintenance done. The U.S. Department of Energy thinks that an ill-maintained car can cost you between 4% and 40% in fuel efficiency.

The less weight you have in your car, the better gas mileage you’ll get. Don’t leave anyone at home to keep the weight down, but make a conscientious effort to pack simply and efficiently.

Aerodynamics also effect your gas mileage. You aren’t going to be changing the body of the car, but all that stuff you strapped to the roof may be acting as a nice wind catcher.

Unsurprisingly, the way you drive also has a lot to do with how good your gas mileage is. Try the following to get that MPG higher:

1. Drive defensively. It takes more gas accelerate and brake aggressively than it does to just cruise along.
2. Drop your speed. According to U.S. Department of Energy estimations, every 5mph you hit over 60 can cost you around $0.20 per gallon of gas in efficiency. So if you’re zooming along at 80mph, that’s quite a chunk of change.
3. Use your cruise control. Set it at a reasonable speed and it can help you avoid the problems in 1 and 2.
4. Don’t idle. Don’t just sit in the car with the engine running. If someone needs to run into the store or to the powder room, get out and stretch your legs rather than burn gas to keep the radio on.

There’s all sorts of crazy theories out there about getting better gas mileage, but the truth is that keeping your car in good shape and driving sensibly are the easiest and fastest ways to gain those precious MPG.

Source Fueleconomy.gov

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Packing the right stuff is the easiest way to save money on any car trip.

The first step in packing is to make a list of EVERYTHING you think you’ll need. Write down everything, even if you think it’s something you could never, ever forget, like underwear. Keep this list with your luggage and double check every item before you get into the car.

Some things to make sure are on this list:

• Feminine hygiene products (nothing like buying a $10 pack of tampons at 2am), suntan lotion, any medications and prescriptions, first aid supplies, over-the-counter allergy medicine and painkillers.
• An extra day’s worth of clothing in case of delays or an unplanned stop.
• A little extra cash, not to be touched except in case of dire emergencies.

When packing the car, avoid attaching luggage to the roof unless absolutely necessary. Obviously, you can’t cram the kayak or bicycle in with you, so don’t sweat things like that, but reconsider what you’re bringing if you can’t cram it all into the trunk or cargo area. The less stuff you bring, the less weight in the car and the better the gas mileage.

You can trim down the amount of clothing you need to bring by remembering that you can re-wear things like pants, sweatshirts, and pajamas. It’s probably not necessary to bring ‘nice’ clothes that need to be hung in the car unless you know you are going someplace fancy. Don’t worry about coordinating your shoes; bring a pair of sandals, a pair of sneakers, and (if you are going to spend some time in nature) a pair of shoes you can get dirty.

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If you’re like my friends and I, summer is the time for fun road trips. With the rising prices of gasoline, people everywhere are wondering if they can really afford to do so much driving, but with a little forethought, you can keep the price of a road trip down.

First off, before you even start planning your route, make sure your car is in shape to take a trip like this. If you break down in the middle of nowhere, the cost of towing alone is going to astronomical.

• Your oil should have been changed recently.
• Your tires should be properly inflated (check the treads too!)
• You should have any regular maintenance and tune-ups done.
• You should have a spare tire or a donut, the proper tools to change a tire, and the knowledge to do so.
• Make sure all your tags, registration stickers, insurance cards and other identification are up to date and in the car (we got caught on this one last night because the DMV screwed up.) Who needs a ticket for this sort of thing?

Of course, I’m assuming that you’re not driving a beast of an SUV that gets 15MPG on the highway. (If you are, why?) If your car really is that big a gasoline guzzler, there’s not really much you can do except trade the car in at a loss or wait until your lease is up and make a more economical decision next time.

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Some urbanites are lucky and have apartment or condominium managers who will take care of repairs for ‘free’ (it’s factored into your rent, so it’s not free at all.) But if you don’t, Do It Yourself home (or in my case, apartment) repair can shave a ton of money off the cost of the project. However, there are many traps where you’ll find your money being sucked into.

When you hire a professional to do a project, he’s got many things going for him:

• Wholesale discounts
• Experience
• Proper Equipment/Tools

Unless your occupation is in the field, you’re unlikely to have those three things. You can try to make up the difference though.

It’s hard to get good prices on the supplies you will need for your project without the kickback that contractors get. Even if you only need a little spackling to patch up that whole in the wall, you’re going to pay top dollar for it if you have to head towards a major chain of ‘home improvement’ stores. If you have a ‘value’ store, great. If not, ask around if your neighbors need to do any similar projects. If you only need 1/4 of a can of paint and a little spackle and the neighbors need the same, you may be able to work out a plan to share.

If you have some experience working on the type of project that you’re attempting, then you have an advantage. If you’re like the rest of us, however, you’re going to be doing a lot of research on the subject before you begin. (And if you don’t, you may end up messing up and having to buy more supplies.) This is where I end up in trouble, because I spend three or four hours before I even start looking up tutorials on what I’m going to do. If you work freelance or otherwise by the hour, make sure you calculate your opportunity cost.

Sure the repair guy may charge you $50 an hour, but if it’s going to take him 2 hours to fix your leaky faucet, it would only cost $100 + supplies. If you would be making $20 an hour if you were working your job and it would take you 5 hours to figure out what the heck you’re doing, it would still could still end up costing you $100 + supplies.

See if your neighborhood has a handyman (or handywoman) who can take up the project for a fraction of the cost of a professional. You may be able to shave a lot of money off the cost of labor if you find that your opportunity cost is too high.

Lacking the proper tools is another common issue for urbanites especially. With space at a premium, there’s often not enough space to store a collection of tool boxes, powertools and equipment. If you’re lucky, you can borrow the things you need from your family, friends or neighbors. If you’re unlucky, you’re going to have to rent, which gets expensive really quickly. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of buying or renting equipment when you calculate the cost of you project.

If you’re careful, doing a repair yourself could save you a ton of money. If you’re not, you’re going to wind up frustrated and paying more than you should have.

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A sewing machine can save you a ton of money! The initial investment can be pretty big (depending on how well you shop) but you can avoid alteration and repair costs for years to come.

I don’t know about you, but I need alterations on almost all of my ‘good’ clothes. At the very least, my pants need to be hemmed, and I used to get it done at the cleaners for $15 a pop. That doesn’t seem to bad at first, but over the months it begins to add up.

Even if you’re a perfect size 6, sewing machines are great for things like fixing that tear in the crotch in your sweatpants and sewing the lining in your pockets so your keys stop falling through.

Sewing machines are also incredibly useful for frugal decorating. You can make amazing placemats, tablecloths, curtains, throw pillows and other decorative touches for a fraction of the cost of buying them in a store. Most projects just require you to be able to sew in a relatively straight line.

If you do decide to take the plunge and buy a machine, keep these tips in mind:

• You need quality. When in doubt pay a little more because a machine that breaks down all the time won’t do you any good.
• You don’t need 57 stitches. As long as you’ve got a straight (running stitch) and zig-zag, you’re golden.
• If you want to buy new, look for Brothers or Janome brand.
• If you are buying used, look for vintage Singer. Try stores that specialize in sewing machine repairs for refurbished machines at a fraction of the new cost.
• Other great places for used machines are: Freecycle, Craigslist, Rummage Sales, Estate Sales.
• For instructions on how to start machine sewing, try looking for classes at your local library, community college, church or community center. Great online tutorials are only a quick Google search away.

And for those of you who already own a sewing machine and know how to use it, were you aware of all the great, free patterns online? Try BurdaStyle or Craftster to start off with.

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If you ask me or my husband, the answer is a resounding NO! DH loves to play with gas powered RC cars and I recreate costumes (cosplay.) Both of these are money sinkholes and we know it.

So why do we keep at it? Because we love it and we find ways to lower the costs of our hobbies.

If you have a hobby, do you put the same kind of effort into making frugal choices about it as you do in the rest of your life?

One of the big things we do is have a set spending limit. Every bi-week (since that’s our pay schedule) only so much money gets set aside as ‘fun money.’ If we want to make a purchase over that amount, we have to wait until the next bi-week (or month, depending on the amount.) Half the time, that item we really, really wanted to buy isn’t so attractive after we’ve had a month to think about it.

I also make a huge effort to sniff out sales and coupons for my supplies. If there’s a mailing list, I’m on it. I also regularly run Google searches with the name of the store or supply I need and either coupons or sale. I’ll often wait a few weeks to get the best deal (which is easier when dealing with fabrics rather than the necessities of life.)

Another way to keep costs down is to check out garage sales, Freecycle, classifieds and local groups. You’d be surprised how often people dump all their stuff for a hobby because they’ve grown bored, decided it’s too expensive or just don’t have the time for it anymore. You can often snag great deals (or even things for free) if you keep your eyes open.

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As much as I’d like to live in a world where we didn’t need to work for our bread and butter, I’m afraid we don’t.

As such, I have to put advertising on my sites in order to make them economically feasible. I try to put them in an unobtrusively as possible (you didn’t come here to see the ads after all) but I know that sometimes a site can seem like it’s losing it’s purpose and becoming too commercial. I want to assure you that Frugal Urbanite will not become solely a billboard.

Here is our Disclosure Policy which can be found both by following the link in our header and by clicking on the badge in the sidebar:

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Katie (afamilyofgeeks.com).

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

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To summarize: This blog receives income from third party ads. I will not post a favorable review about an advertiser solely because I am being compensated for it. If I blog about a service or product and I will benefit from the referral, I will make this clear within the post itself.

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You know the drill. You come home late, exhausted from work. You’re really hungry, but you just don’t have the energy to cook. So you end up ordering take-out, spending more than you wanted and winding up with greasy, salty, overpriced food.

So here are some super quick and easy meals to encourage you to avoid take-out.

• Quesadillas – Ingredients per person: 2 tortillas, shredded cheese, optional leftover cooked meat. Heat a frying pan or griddle on medium heat and add a small amount of grease. Layer tortilla, cheese, meat and then tortilla in pan. When bottom tortilla is toasted, flip and continue cooking until cheese is melted.
• Macaroni and Cheese – Ingredients per person: 1 cup cooked pasta, 2-3 oz. shredded cheese, a few tbsp milk, 1 tbsp flour. Combine cheese, milk and flour in microwavable safe bowl and microwave until melted, usually about 2 minutes (add more milk to make a smoother sauce.) Stir in cooked pasta and microwave until fully heated. If you have more time, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake in oven and until browned. Also good with leftover sliced hot dogs or ham.
• Omelette – Ingredients per person: 2-3 eggs, optional shredded cheese, diced ham, leftover veggies, leftover potatoes…
• Ramen Stir Fry
• Sandwiches – Any and all.
• Fried Rice – Ingredients per person: 1 cup cold cooked rice, leftover meat, leftover veggies, garlic, ginger, onion, egg. Heat oil in wok or frying pan, cook garlic, ginger, onion, meat and veggies. Mix egg into rice and add to pan while stirring. Season with salt or soy sauce.
• Mixed Salad – Ingredients per person: 2 cups lettuce or leafy greens, optional olives, cheese, ham, tomatoes, carrots, celery, peppers, onions, radishes, mushrooms, sprouts… anything in the fridge, prepared salad dressing or vinaigrette.

For quick and easy steamed veggies, add 1 cup frozen veggies and 1-2 tbsp water to a microvable safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and nuke for 2-3 minutes or until tender.

Of course there are a million and one other quick meals, but these are some of the ones I make regularly.

ETA: I stumbled on this site a few minutes ago. It’s for college students, but the recipes will work perfectly well whether you’re in a dorm kitchen or out in the ‘real world’.

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