Frugal For Life

A joint research from Starcom and Nickelodeon found out a few things. First the study:

"The research -- which is being shared with clients but not released widely -- was conducted over fourth-quarter 2008 and first-quarter 2009, and included nationally representative online surveys of 1,000 parents with kids aged 2 to 17 and 700 children aged 8 to 17. Qualitative parental responses were culled from blogs."

72 percent agreed with the statement, "It's no longer important to keep up with the Joneses."
48 percent said that "we have redefined what's truly meaningful in our lives."
Over 60 percent of those polled said they were buying more store brands than previously
73 percent said they had started using coupons more.
46 percent said they would take a "staycation" and spend time at home as opposed to traveling.

News like this always warms my heart that people are seeing the usefulness to living within their means and not worrying about what the neighbors think of the way they live. They are doing what is right for their finances and for their family and seeing the benefits from it.

I'm glad that people are not as brand loyal as they used to be. Personally I have seen a few changes in the grocery markets that are helping as well.
1. I see that store name items have as much shelf display as some of the brand name displays
2. I'm seeing more stores promote their store brands at the end of aisles and giving a larger display along the inner aisles. A 99¢ box of corn flakes can be just as good tasting as the brand name for 2.59
3. I notice that many of the store brands are going back to a two color design to make them stand out from the others, mostly blue and white or red,white and blue.

I work in a retail store office that counts the coupons coming in and I must say that I have noticed an increase in coupons as well. Usually weekdays are slower for coupons but now weekdays have about as many coupons that weekends had almost two years ago. Also people are using multiple coupons more - a BOGO coupon along with a second cents off coupon or are using store coupons along with manufacturer coupons. I have also seen an increase in multiple coupons for the same item - meaning people are either buying more papers on Sunday or getting multiples from online sites.

Finally, the newest word added to Merriam-Webster online, staycation, is one that many of us have done already when finances didn't allow, and we now have a feeling of belonging and, we don't have to worry about others thinking we are 'losers' because we aren't traveling as often as often as them. Which brings us back full circle to the 72% who said they weren't going to keep up with the Joneses any longer.

Frugal-living really is easy when you cut to the chase. It is just the attitude and willingness to change that takes time and a little push sometimes.

The following is a guest post by Franz Longsworth

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It’s summertime and the living is easy for only a select few these days, as for the other 99% of the population it is rather important to get your finances in order. Saving more, spending less moola, and being green seem to be a good fit for a 2009 motif.

So to help save money this summer a yard sale comes highly recommended whether you are shopping at one or attending one they can be extremely beneficial because if you like to save money than shopping around at a neighborhood garage sale can afford you the benefit of buying hard to find items at pennies on the dollar.

Often times you will find items that have been used once or twice and have expired their return policy so that means you get to benefit.

With warmer temperatures comes a ton of neighborhood sales and when you stroll out around your neighborhood on any given weekend day the odds are your going to find some great sales and bargains. The best part being that all prices are negotiable and you never know what kind of great retro finds that may pop up.

To find a sale all you have to do is look for signs around the neighborhood, check out your local newspaper or Google a garage sales.

Some individuals realize how great the profit potential is from selling off old unused items and have made the choice to throw their own sale. The average sale can bring in around $200.00 and for tough times like the ones we are in, that most certainly could help. Some simple tips are to sell what people want if you wouldn’t buy it than most likely your customers won’t either, be negotiable on prices, and advertise advertise advertise.

The most popular items that sell at a Garage Sale are:
* Baby items
* Clothes
* Strollers
* Furniture
* Electronics
* Yard Equipment and Tools
* Books
* Jewelry

Almost every household in America either has a compilation of these items or will need to compile them.

This article was written by Franz Longsworth an avid Garage Saler and bargain hunter who got the desire to use his web development to help other bargain hunters in the world with a simple and easy to use website in: garagesalestracker.com

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4 additional tips I have learned from garage sales:

-- If you are looking to raise more money or don't have much stuff, include neighbors in the sale or sell homemade sweets and drinks - heck you could even have a BBQ going and sell dogs, burgers and sodas. (sidenote: Please look presentable when selling food, if you look like you aren't clean, you may not get many sales.)

-- If you look like you are enjoying yourself and enjoy having people around to look at your stuff, then they will pick up on that and stick around longer.

-- Please, please, please keep things neat as it makes it so much easier to browse, just don't hover over me as I put something down in the wrong spot.

-- Most important; make your signs easy to read from a car that is driving at 15mph along a road.