10 Questions with Jason White from FrugalDad.com

1.  So what is FrugalDad.com all about?  How & Why did you start your blog?

FrugalDad.com is a site featuring ideas on frugal living, but it’s really more than that.  I like to share my ideas and opinions on broader personal finance topics, careers, personal development, parenting, and even blogging.  I started FrugalDad.com as a creative outlet to cultivate my interest in writing, and as a way to connect with other frugal families.  I wrote articles for Associated Content for nearly a year before deciding to venture out on my own.

2.  So what is a day in your shoes like?  Location, Age, Job, Interests?

Since beginning my blog my days have become even longer.  I start the day around 4:30am to get some time to myself for writing, researching, responding to readers, etc.  I get most everything related to Frugal Dad out of the way during those precious two hours before the wife and kids are awake.  A quick breakfast with the family and I’m out the door to work my regular 8-5, as a database administrator/web designer. 

Afternoons are spent helping the wife prepare dinner, playing outside with the kids (Spring in the southeast means long, warm afternoons where you can play outside until 8:00pm).  I finish the day off with catching up on email, prepping the next day’s article and then off to bed around 10:30.

3.  Ok, now the fun questions, what is your favorite cheap meals that you make at home and when you’re eating out?

I probably ought to come up with some intriguing made-from-scratch meal here, but I’d be lying if I said I was a good cook.  My favorite meal is my wife’s spaghetti, and while I haven’t done a full cost breakdown I’m guessing it is around $1.00 per person, per meal.  She makes a double batch and I eat it four or five meals in a row, including my lunches at work for two days.  We don’t eat out often, but when we do we like to order an appetizer as a meal, or split an entrée.  We also like to hit restaurants on the nights when kids eat free.

Dean, "Ahh, spaghetti it is one of those meals that really fills you up.  I never thought of doing a double batch, great idea."

4.  What is the one thing you own under $20 that has gotten the most bang for your buck?

We bought an indoor griddle on sale at Target for around $20 and that thing has been the best purchase in our household.  We use it for the traditional breakfast items such as pancakes, eggs, etc., but the real value is how well it cooks meats. 

It sure beats heating up the whole house to bake meats in the summer, or standing outside in a cold rain in the winter to use an outdoor grill.  Homemade hamburgers are delicious cooked on the griddle, and because of its design much of the fat runs off into a drip container making meals even healthier.

Dean, "I agree, those indoor grills are fast, convenient and easy to clean.  I like to marinate meats the night before then throw them on the grill for a quick and easy dinner."

5.  You seem to be an avid reader with plans to read one book every week for 52 weeks.   What are your top 3 life changing books you can recommend for people wanting to learn more about money or finances?

I haven’t always been an avid reader.  Like most people, I burned out after doing so much required reading in college.  However, I soon realized that there is a common thread amongst the most successful people – they read a lot!  The very first life-changing book I read on the subject of personal finances was The Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley.  I read it on a business trip to Ft. Lauderdale, and it completely changed the way I thought about millionaires. 

Next on the list is The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey, which forever changed my attitude towards credit cards, and debt in general.  It even moved me to change careers, out of the financial industry and into technology.  Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, probably had the most profound effect on my life in general, not just financially.  It really forced me to stop and think about the things for which I was exchanging my life energy.

Dean, "I have "The Millionaire Mind" audio book, nice pick"

6.  Can you share your number 1 tip in being a "frugal dad"?

My number one tip is to be frugal, but flexible.  Sometimes we frugal dads let the pendulum swing too far, and the whole family suffers from our obsessive belt-tightening.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.  My grandfather wrote me a letter when I turned 20 and reminded me to "smell the roses."  Over a decade later I still think of that advice when my first inclination is to say "no" to anything my family wants to do that requires money.

Dean, "Very true, it is very important not to lose track of why you are saving money.  Too many people save money just to save money.  If you save money on one thing then blow it on something meaningless, what is the point."

7.  In your blog you recently wrote that you downgraded your cable television package, how is that transition going?

It was one of the best moves we’ve ever made!  My daughter was initially upset because she lost the Disney Channel, but it’s been surprising how little she mentions it now. We spend more time outside in the evenings and on weekends.  My wife and I spend more time reading after the kids are in bed.  If it were up to me we would pull the plug on cable television altogether, but remember my tip – be flexible.

Dean, "I couldn’t agree with you more, I wrote about my experience of actually living without a TV.  Personally I don’t think there are a lot of good shows on television, maybe I’m just getting old.  I also don’t like the confinement of static programming, that is why I love my Netflix, I get to watch what I want when I want."

8.  What is one of the biggest mistakes or problems you feel parents make when it comes to teaching kids about money?

One of the biggest mistakes I see parents making is cosigning for a credit card for their teenager in the interest of "building their credit score."  When that teenager hits college they will inundated with offers for credit, and by normalizing it you have in fact encouraged them to take on a credit card of their own. 

Before they know it, they are $10,000 in debt from pizzas, Xbox games, clothes and iPods.  Instead, teach kids to use cash.  Teach them to save for large purchases.  Credit cards are not evil by themselves, and used wisely they can be a useful financial tool. 

However, they are not for the financially inexperienced.  Giving a teenager a credit card is like giving a 12 year-old a learner’s permit to drive.  They may have the physical skills necessary to operate a car, but they do not yet have the maturity nor the experience required to make responsible decisions.  I would rather see a young person avoid credit cards until they are on their own financially and earning their own way.

Dean, "Very good point, I bet there are a lot of young adults in debt that with their parents taught them how to be fiscally responsible."

9.  Give me your top 3 blog posts that every Mr. Cheap Stuff reader should read.

How I’ve Survived Without the Help of Wii, TomTom or iPod

Teach Your Kids About Money With Only Four Quarters

How to Implement an Envelope Budgeting System

10. Finally, can you give me your favorite tip on how do you use the Internet to save money or time?

Like most men I despise clothes shopping.  For me it ranks up there with dental checkups and an annual physical.  However, thanks to sites like eBay I’ve managed to avoid mall shopping for all but a few required articles of clothing. 

When the time comes to add to my wardrobe I visit a mall and try on several styles of pants and shirts.  I carry along a pen and piece of paper and note the size, style and any other unique characteristics of the things I like.  I leave the mall and go home to look up the items on eBay.  Run a search for the item with the tag "NWT" added to the end of your query.  You can usually find your item new-with-tag (NWT) at half the costs of retail prices.

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10 Frugal Questions With Jason White From FrugalDad.com

Where do you want to live?

1. Please tell me about your yourself (Age, Location, Job, Interests)?

Half-way through working towards my undergraduate degree I got interested in Usability and Interaction Design, which lead me to the Institute of Design in Chicago. I received a Masters in Design, but along the way I became heavily involved with Flash Actionscript. Now I look for opportunities to combine those two interests. After graduating I worked at Bose on the Ferrari Media System. It was a great experience, but I missed the web and was anxious to do my own work. Earlier this year my wife, daughter and I moved back to Chicago, where I now split my time between freelance consulting and working on my own applications. One of those is a web-based card sorting application and the other is a video app that we’ll be announcing at the ISDA conference next week. I turned 30 last month.

2. Describe what TheNewlyRich.com is about.

The Newly Rich is a play on the phrase Tim Ferriss uses to describe a culture he refers to as "the new rich." One major characteristic of this culture is that we value time and mobility as much as money, and learn how to make the most of all three. When I first read 4HWW I was fascinated with many of the concepts, but I could see how people with families might be hesitant to put them in to action. The site is a place for us to share our experiences- both positive and negative- that we have as we implement concepts from 4HWW and related philosophies.

3. How and when did you start your blog/site?

In May of this year I just grabbed the domain, threw a basic WordPress install on there, and started writing.

4. You do a lot of traveling, what tips can you give to save money when traveling?

Southwest is just hard to beat. They never charge you a fee for changing or cancelling your flight. On my most recent trip (from which I’m flying home from as I type this), I got a pretty good deal. But a few weeks later I saw a deal pop up via Ding! that was $75 cheaper for the same travel dates. It took 5 minutes to go online, cancel my previous itinerary, and book the cheaper one. Kayak is also a fantastic tool for exploring multiple alternatives for cities, dates, and carriers.

Beyond that, I’d say just remember that your time is worth a lot. I used to spend countless hours exploring every possible way to save $20 on a flight, even if it meant having multiple layovers and inconvenient airports. Now I keep it pretty simple- find the best deal you can in a few minutes, book the shortest most convenient flight you can, and get on with your life.

5. You have an interesting daily schedule, could you share what it  is like.

Waking up at 4 am is a little strange, but for me the tradeoff is pretty simple: I give up a bit of nightlife in exchange for several more hours of productivity, and I have the option of ending my workday in the afternoon. I don’t think I’ll keep it forever, but right now I’m in a bit of an "investment" phase, and I really enjoy working on building up my business. Waking up early is a whole lot easier when you look forward to your work.

6. What is one time saving tip or idea that has really improved your life.

Just cutting down the information inflow. Folks like Merlin Mann have been encouraging this for a long time, but it took me a while to catch on. I used to read (and comment on) so many email discussion lists and blogs. It’s not that they were a complete waste of time, but when I made a careful analysis I realized the return on investment just wasn’t worth it. Now I put those hours into actually making stuff, or spending time with my wife and daughter– both of which are so much more fulfilling than getting caught up in a design debate or listening to some stranger’s rant about Adobe.

7. What is the best or most useful thing you own under $20?

That’s tough. I have lots of favorite Mac applications (Transmit, iShowU, SuperDuper, Mori), but I think most of them were $25-$40. I guess for now I’d have to say $20 worth of storage on S3. With the help of Bandwagon I can finally stop hauling around gigs of music backup, and my wife and I can easily sync-up our iTunes purchases.

8. Can you recommend any books or websites, which ones and why.

My all-time favorite book is probably Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Oh, and Sad Mrs. Sam Sack. As far as websites, my friend and colleague Josh Penrod has been running Amish Robot since before blogging was cool. Dig through some of "most popular" entries on that site when you want a good laugh.

9.  If you would like to share anything else please feel free to  do so.

For anyone interested trying outsourcing to a virtual assistant, and is looking for an alternative to GetFriday, I’m in the early stages of creating new service. Our assistants are U.S-based and web-savvy. Feel free to sign up and we’ll let you know when it’s ready.

Thanks Jed for doing this interview.

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Jed Wood Interview – TheNewlyRich.com

I decided to do an interview with Ted because he has some very interesting and useful information for any college kid.  Plus I was in college not too long ago and it brought back some fond college memories.  I asked Ted to offer some tips and information for Mr. Cheap Stuff readers on how to save time and money.

Ted Reimers Interview

1.  Hey Ted could you please tell me more about yourself?

My name is Ted Reimers.  I am 27 years old and currently reside in Spokane, WA.  I like to travel, and enjoy playing sports.

2.  What blog(s) do you author?  What are they about?

I operate CampusGrotto.com which is a College Blog providing Tips and Advice primarily for college students, or future college students.

3.  How and when did you start Campus Grotto your blog(s)?

The blog was started in December of 2006.  I was tired of all the college related websites that were just about finding the next party or hookup and other sites that make a college student unproductive (see facebook, MySpace and CollegeHumor).  I wanted to provide something of value, something to help students survive college easier.  So, I started this site providing College Advice.

4.  How do you come up with your ideas for new content?

My content ideas come from personal experiences I faced in College, current related college news and other content that I feel all college students should know (which requires research on my end).

5.  What’s your favorite money saving tip(s) or idea(s) that you could share with us?

Take your time when making purchases.  Take the time to look around and find the best deal available.

6.  What is the worst purchase or investment you have every made?

I got involved in the stock market at a young age and bought stocks in a few tech companies.  While it was a good learning experience, I shouldn’t have been investing in something I did not have experience with. 

7.  Ouch, I had played with some Dot Com stocks too and got burnt.  What is your favorite time saving tip or product that you could share with us?

Automate as many things as you can.  Whether it be depositing your paycheck, paying bills, adding your favorite sites to your RSS reader, DVR your favorite shows, etc.  The more things you can automate, the more time it gives you for more important tasks.

8.  What is the best thing you own under $20 bucks?

A USB Thumb Drive. I can carry everything I’m working on at the moment (computer wise) in my pocket and use it on any computer.  It is very convenient.

9.  Nice, what is your weakness when it comes to being smart with your money?

Summer Time.  With all the barbeques, sports games and other events going on in the summer, it’s hard to hold back.

If you looking for another interesting read to add your list check out CampusGrotto.com.  Thanks Ted for the great interview.

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How to Save Money College Style – Ted Reimers Interview