Birth of Frugal Drew

I have reviewed this book in the past, but it really is the impedance for the birth of Frugal Drew. (I don't normally refer to myself in the third person). If any book has been a "must read" for me, this is it.

We are helping my son and future daughter in law with their wedding (March 1, 2014) and after that date, we will start to live a more frugal lifestyle. It's amazing the amount of money we spend on things merely to occupy our time and keep up with the Jones'. First step is to reduce money on TV, dinner out, etc. I bought a guitar and have been spending time learning to play it rather than watching TV. Also, picking up a good book is a better use of my time.

I also have realized that I have been taking too many vacations to get away from the stress of the rat race. We recently came back from Key West on a no cost is too much vacation. While we had a great time, it took 3 months to pay that trip off. So, this year we will be cutting down to ONE nice vacation a year. Even with that, we will try to eat in more and see the sites that don't cost a lot of money.

My friends don't think I can do it and will back to my spending ways in 3-months. When I do the math, I really need to pick up the saving to hit my cruising goal of 2023. That's only 9-years away! I've setup two accounts (boat kitty and dividend account) so that we will have reoccurring income to cruise and money to buy the boat. This will happen!

Here are a few easy examples for me to save money. Right now we spend $169 a month on TV, phone and internet. The basic package will save me over $100 a month. Take this over a year ($1,200) times 9 years, invest, and I've easily got $12k for the boat. Do I really need all those stations? We are also going to cut down on cell phones. That's another $139 a month that I can easily reduce to less than $100 a month. It's amazing how much money we waste on things that we don't really need.