[quote=Ren]There’s a point where cheapness becomes a mental illness – living on expired food, buying store brand mac & cheese – which tastes like crap compared to Kraft.
Those things don’t add up to much, anyway – a few bucks a month. The real savings are in your housing and car. Sacrifice one bedroom, and drive it 6 or 8 years instead of 4.[/quote]
I wouldn’t buy expired food or store brand (or Kraft) mac & cheese (home made with real cheese is better and cheaper than both). However, I wouldn’t say it don’t add up to much. You can easily save $10-20/person/day by buying grocery that’s on sale and cook your own food. For a family of 4, you’re talking about $1200-2400/month. That’s about how much most people pay for their mortgage. This cost is also every recurring while you can be mortgage free after 30 years and same with a car. Those who live cheaply probably will opt for the smaller house and drive their cars till they die as well. It’s a state of mind. My car is 8 years old and 100k miles and it’s still going strong. I’ll probably keep it for at least another 3-5 years.
