Am I a tight a$$, am I doing it wrong?

Ok I know there is no right or wrong.........but

Am I a tight a$$???
Got myself a swag of Ips, all is good
As the territory goes, get my fair share of maintenance requests
For big jobs I always shop around and try and get the best prices,

For small jobs unless i have a guy who is willing to go out and do a hour job, I can't be bothered putting an ad on gumtree advertising a one hour job for plumbing or electric or handyman for say $30', so i just get the agent to use their guy who charges anywhere between 60 and 80$

If the agent recommends a bit of compensation when it's needed, eg a weeks free rent, I do

Or sometimes I do the odd freebie to keep the tenants happy

I will spend 100$+ in one shot quite regularly

On the other hand, I don't have any particularly expensive toys or hobbies,
I'm waiting for the day I can afford my stupidly impractical sportscar
Ill go out for dinner and choose the 23$ meal over the 25$ if I'm indifferent about what I want

I always check out specials at the super markets, ill go to either Coles and woollies depending n what specials they have

If I go to cheap Chinese restauarnt, sometimes, I'll choose the $9 meat dish over the $10 seafood dish (more out of habit)

Somehow I feel like I'm doing it wrong,

Yes all these small savings add up
But if I spent the extra time say looking for a cheaper person on gumtree I could save $60 as compared to $1 on a cheap meal!!! (I could save 60 in one shot and not worry about saving $1 per meal once per week for an entire year)

Am I a tight a$$ :)
Most of my behaviour is from partly parents influence who struggled a bit when I was younger and left overs from when I was a poor student
 
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'Tight ar$e' is such crude terminology. I much prefer 'Fiscally responsible'.

I don't believe anything you have mentioned is being substantially tight. I'm sure others can give good examples of being a more extreme tight ar$e!

pinkboy....tight is when you can't buy strawberries coz you can't pass the seeds! :D
 
I thought Kathryn & Bob are our resident tightwads :D

They've written some great posts on savings and living lightly

Is there no Mrs TMNT or little dude's/dudette's?

We find we spend more on the kids than ourselves
 
TMNT,

We are similar in many respects.
Sometimes it is a matter of time vs cost, when it comes to our IPs, one what we will do, and what we hire a tradie for.

Often when we go to a restaurant, I think I want something, until we get there, and something that sounds equally delicious, is the day's special.

I love leftovers...good food without all the hassle of preparation.
If you have too much, incorporate them into a new recipe.

There is nothing wrong with being careful with your money...whether it is by habit or a conscious act.


Redwing....you were typing your post, while I was typing mine.
We just arrived back in Australia yesterday...
so we have a whole other country to 'not spend much money' in.
 
Am I a tight a$$ :)
Most of my behaviour is from partly parents influence who struggled a bit when I was younger and left overs from when I was a poor student

Does it really matter what anybody else thinks? Are you comfortabe with your spending habits?
 
I thought Kathryn & Bob are our resident tightwads :D

They've written some great posts on savings and living lightly

Is there no Mrs TMNT or little dude's/dudette's?

We find we spend more on the kids than ourselves

no mrs TMNT, 2 dudettes, relationship is a 3rd priorty at the moment, with work, dudettes, Property

Ive always enjoyed reading kathryn_ds stories and adventures
Does it really matter what anybody else thinks? Are you comfortabe with your spending habits?

its not the image or perception im at all worried about, its about practicality and working smart, if im doing something inefficiently id rather some one tell me,

i guess it all comes down to proportion of the $$ we are talking about, when I negotiate properties, ill throw in an extra $1k without any hesitation, but yet (as ridiculous as I feel) im subconsciously aware of a $1 difference in a meal, if i try a little bit harder, and save $1k, I could eat $1 extra for 20 years!!!! wow that even surprised me doing the maths!! had to double check my figures ;o
 
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no mrs TMNT, 2 dudettes, relationship is a 3rd priorty at the moment, with work, dudettes, Property

Ive always enjoyed reading kathryn_ds stories and adventures


its not the image or perception im at all worried about, its about practicality and working smart, if im doing something inefficiently id rather some one tell me,

i guess it all comes down to proportion of the $$ we are talking about, when I negotiate properties, ill throw in an extra $1k without any hesitation, but yet (as ridiculous as I feel) im subconsciously aware of a $1 difference in a meal, if i try a little bit harder, and save $1k, I could eat $1 extra for 20 years!!!! wow that even surprised me doing the maths!! had to double check my figures ;o

If it works for you and you still enjoying a good lifestyle I don't see the problem.

However, saving $1-2 on a meal, geeez, give yourself a break and splash out occasionally, it wont break the bank infact you deserve it;)

MTR
 
I want to know where I can get $9 and $10 meals out? I only know of places that start at $16 for a bowl of sauce with a few chunks of meat floating in there.
 
focusing on minor cost savings may help balance the budget and help you become financially secure but I don't think it is the mind set of the rich. I prefer the abundance mentality
 
Rob and I just came from the Melbourne Market.
We each had a fried dim sim ..cost $3.60

We strolled around the market and came across some great finds.
For a total of $2 we purchased 3 capsicums, bag of brussell sprouts, and a small bag of little potatoes.

Then on our way home we splurged for 2 soft serves at MacDonalds for 60c.
 
I want to know where I can get $9 and $10 meals out? I only know of places that start at $16 for a bowl of sauce with a few chunks of meat floating in there.

There are a couple of Japanese restaurants in Sydney CBD where you can sit down and eat for around $5 = Oiden on George St is one. Good for Japanese curry and rice.
 
Income is unlimited, but expenses are limited.

Irrespective of how high I can raise my income if I have no control over my expenses I will never be able to retire PERIOD.

Show me one person in the world who ALWAYS spends more than he earns and is retired?

Spending less than you earn (i.e. controlling expenses ) is the most important step and the first step you need to take to get on to the path of financial independence.

Next step would be to invest the difference and

Third step is to keep working on increasing your income. This is the step I believe you alluded to in your post. Which is important but without following the first 2 steps you won't be able to achieve financial independence.

Cheers,
Oracle.
 
Ok I know there is no right or wrong.........but

Am I a tight a$$???
Got myself a swag of Ips, all is good
As the territory goes, get my fair share of maintenance requests
For big jobs I always shop around and try and get the best prices,

For small jobs unless i have a guy who is willing to go out and do a hour job, I can't be bothered putting an ad on gumtree advertising a one hour job for plumbing or electric or handyman for say $30', so i just get the agent to use their guy who charges anywhere between 60 and 80$

If the agent recommends a bit of compensation when it's needed, eg a weeks free rent, I do

Or sometimes I do the odd freebie to keep the tenants happy

I will spend 100$+ in one shot quite regularly

On the other hand, I don't have any particularly expensive toys or hobbies,
I'm waiting for the day I can afford my stupidly impractical sportscar
Ill go out for dinner and choose the 23$ meal over the 25$ if I'm indifferent about what I want

I always check out specials at the super markets, ill go to either Coles and woollies depending n what specials they have

If I go to cheap Chinese restauarnt, sometimes, I'll choose the $9 meat dish over the $10 seafood dish (more out of habit)

Somehow I feel like I'm doing it wrong,

Yes all these small savings add up
But if I spent the extra time say looking for a cheaper person on gumtree I could save $60 as compared to $1 on a cheap meal!!! (I could save 60 in one shot and not worry about saving $1 per meal once per week for an entire year)

Am I a tight a$$ :)
Most of my behaviour is from partly parents influence who struggled a bit when I was younger and left overs from when I was a poor student

We have a lot in common.
 
Fiscally frugal is a better term than tight a**e.

Something my dear old Mum taught me and still stands true today.

"Money in needs to be greater than money out and invest the difference and you will never be with out"

She lives it as well but is definitely not tight.
 
We have a lot in common.

ill take that as a compliment:D

that aside, ive head the following many times since I was a kid, "all the rich people got rich for being Jew (the noun, not the race)" and "the only reason they get rich is because they are as tight as a......."

that being said, I dont think the packers would be tight on anything!!!

or do they start off tight as anything, and stop being as tight when they become absolutely squillionaries
 
or do they start off tight as anything, and stop being as tight when they become absolutely squillionaries

Being tight is a mindset. You can have diddly squat and be tight and you can have squillions and still be tight!

Ps. I used to be tight then I married some one who is genourous (overly) now we have balanced each other out and both some where in the healthy middle ground.
 
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