Are you frugal in everyday life: perspective?

feel your frustration/pain @TMNT, but part of the downside of being a landlord.

 

Absolutely.
Although I probably come across as just ranting and saying why me?
That's not my intention. Yeah definitely a little rant But it's part of being A landlord

But it's events like these I do think why bother scanning my woolworths card or even looking at a sales catalogue

 

often I feel tenants are much better look after than ourselves.

 

My husband says that a lot.

Last year our tenants got to move into a freshly painted home with thousands of dollars spent on it making it look good as new. Our house has chipped paint and worn out floors. The sofa is awful to look at, dark brown, but still comfy to sit on. I just realised it's ten years old. The "new" kitchen was done about 2005.

 

My tenants kitchen are almost twice the size of mine (they are in capital city and we are in regionals- that says a lot)

 

I even made myself chuckle about this one. I was at the supermarket yesterday and had spent $31 on groceries. The cashier accidentally forgot to put through my last $2 of items, and had already put the transaction through and I had tapped/paid when the lady behind me in the queue told the cashier that she had forgotten my last two items (I couldn't see as I was already on past the register). Cashier put the $2 worth of stuff through separately. I walked off after paying, and thought to myself, I wonder if what I spent came in at over $30 in total? I stopped, checked my receipts and realised it did. I went back and asked if she could combine the two transactions or do something so that I could get my 4 cents off fuel docket. She wasn't happy but admitted it was her mistake and she ended up rifling through the bin and pulled out a fuel docket (They must keep them when customers don't want their receipts). Sounds so cheap I know but I felt ripped off having spent the $30 and not got my 4 cents off!

 

Lol you don’t happen to frequent the Oz Bargain site do you? You seem like an Ozbargainer to me lol

 

You should! Full of lots of hacks like that and links to coupon codes and specials

 

Now I feel doubly ripped off. I would have to drive miles out of my way to access a Woolies petrol station, so I dont. The racq has a deal with a different fuel provider, also miles away, and only 4c per litre off.

 

As a union member, I can access 5% discount at Coles. You buy $100 vouchers for $95 BUT if you pay by credit card you have to pay fees and if you wish for a giftcard instead of emailed paper voucher there are more fees. I found it to be a lot of time and effort for a potential $5 saving. It also means having vouchers purchased in advance - which means money not offsetting loans. It would be so much easier if you could just scan your membership card at the register.

 

Scoopon
Have purchased some great deals through here for Kids / family activities
Clip and Climb $10 save 62%, WynCity $20 - 4 hrs unlimited play all areas, Rampfest Skatepark $6 pp. These discounts made these outings affordable for a family and enabled us to do a few different things.

 

I've thought about the same thing and I've come to the view that structural fixes are a lot better ways of saving money/earning more money than ad hoc things here and there (e.g. coupon clipping). A structural fix like getting a lower home loan rate, or doing something to reduce your taxable income each year, takes less work in the long run and once you've done it you don't have to repeatedly think about it.

E.g.: taking advantage of loopholes/generous concessions can save you a few grand in tax each year. They close the loopholes from time to time but there are always other ones that open up. Previously it was NG/CGT/Super. Now there are still a lot of generous vehicle deductions you can exploit.

Networking well can give you business connections which might pay off sometime down the future (maybe only 2% of these connections will be worthwhile, but they take relatively little effort and can bring in big bucks).

Knowing how to ask your bank manager for the right rate can save you hundreds each year. (Probably less so now in the wake of the Royal Commission, but just a few years ago banks were like the wild west, unregulated, and there were various clever ways to get yourself an advantage.)

When people talk about frugality I consider ways of being 'frugal' with the rules, i.e., ways of gaining a (legal) advantage through being clever and resourceful.

 

come over to my house!

sometimes I bathe in a bath tub full of 4c dockets, thinking I have won at life!

and I only fill up my car every fortnight,
and dont get 5% off petrol at wool worths on top of 4c that I get!

 

exacto lutely Yman

I scoff at high fuel prices, but when I subconsciously know that I get 11.5c per litre, it makes me feel much better
I laugh at those that queue up at BP and pay the full price

I also used the BP 25% off fuel promotion on my amex card for 6 weeks recently,

all my cars and families cars were overflowign with petrol

 

Seems to be a running theme here- all of us investors are tightar$es lol

 

I think sometimes people forget the value of their own time.

For example, a number of posts have mentioned driving further/correcting the cashier to save 4c/litre on petrol. Let's say this hassle takes an extra 10 minutes of your time (rather than just going to the most convenient service station and not worrying about dockets) and you fill up 50 litres of fuel (I would say an average fill unless you have a large car):

50 litres x $0.04 = $2.00 savings

$2.00 saving in exchange for 10 minutes (0.167 of an hour) = $11.98/hour.

Would you stay back at work on overtime for $11.98/hour? Would you drive an uber for $11.98?

The point I'm making is that time is our most valuable resource and we need to treat it as such. Deciding where,how and who you spend your time with should be your number one priority. All too often, we get so caught up sacrificing so much today so we can retire with millions when we are 40,50 or 60 years old. How do you know you will be happy at 60 with millions of dollars? Maybe you won't be any happier at all. How do you know that when you are 60, your number regret is you spent too much time at work earning overtime to grow your portfolio? Or that you were too much of tight arse to go on holidays with your kids and just enjoyed the moment without having to think how that extra coffee or ice cream is going to affect your retirement plans?

It's already been mentioned numerous times but balance is key. Enjoy today but have a simple plan in place to look after your future.

I've been so much happier since I stopped being so strict on deadlines/balances of my portfolio, simplified my goals and found happiness in day to day activities.

These days our monthly income goes along the lines of this:

50% living expenses
10% towards cash/offsetting OO property
20% towards investing
10% big splurges (holidays etc)
5% blow on whatever we want (eating out, movies, shows, coffee etc)
5% charity

Adjust your percentages, set and forget. Enjoy today while looking after tomorrow!

 

You always have a balanced, positive attitude

 

Haha nice. I thought I was nuts.

I've taken it a step further and purchased Jerry cans. I fill the Jerry cans at the bottom of the cycle and use during the peak. Peak to trough in Melbourne is 25c. (4c+ 25c)+5% discount.....its only about $300/yr

...then I buy smashed avo