How I Save $

I've always been very frugal and was always taught to be careful with my money. I also don't live a lavish lifestyle, but since moving to Boston, I've become a hardcore penny-pincher keeping up with the cost of rent. Here's how I save. Instead of a ton of random bullets, I'll try to put them in buckets to keep things organized.

Personal Care

• I cut my own hair. I have been since high school. Hundreds of dollars in savings over the years....two haircuts a year @ $20 a pop - so savings of around $40/year.
• I use a safety razor w/ dual-edge razors (Feather brand) that cost about 25 cents per blade. I usually use the same blade about 3 times. Compare this w/ a $2 Gillette Mach 3 cartridge. 1/8th of the price!
• I shower/bathe infrequently - but enough in my opinion. This is often seen as poor personal hygiene or even Taboo! - but unless I work up a sweat, there's really no need. I save tons on shampoo and soap! Also, believe it or not, there are scientific papers that support this lifestyle. ;)

Food

• I buy in bulk whenever possible, although I do not have a Costco or Sam's Club membership. I am unsure if it is worth it for 2 people and 1 cat.
• In particular, I buy coffee K-Cups in bulk from a company called Angelino's. In large bulk, each cup is 39 cents. Not bad for a cup of coffee! Compare that with Starbucks!
• Speaking of Starbucks, I avoid them like the plague. I don't understand how people afford buying a coffee here every day! Crazy.
• I'm definitely not a coupon clipper; I simply do not have time for that - but I do try to check out the sales in the flyer as I  walk into a supermarket.
• I love the discounted shelf at supermarkets - sometimes referred to as 'manager's special' items. These are typically day-old bakery items. I'll often buy 8 bagels for $1.50 and throw them in my freezer. Bam, 20 cent breakfast!
• I try cook most nights instead of eating out. But, this is tough when you are working, going to school, and living in Boston where there are tons of delicious restaurants.....
• On the other hand, I do a lot of fasting and (mostly) unintentional calorie restriction - so this saves a bit on the grocery bill

Personal Finance

• I carry around some cash just in case, but I rarely ever use it. For one, it's hard to keep track of purchases and two, I'd be losing out on cash rewards from my 'swiss-army' credit card knife collection....
• Yes, I play the cash back credit card juggling game. It's really very simple and effective! I have about 4 cash back credit cards that I use for specific purposes. None of them have yearly fees and I always make $ every month just making regular purchases. And of course, I always pay my full bill every month to avoid interest fees. Citi Double Cash and Chase Freedom are among them.
• By the way, if you don't use a cash-back credit card, you are probably losing $! And not only because you don't get cash back form the credit card company. See this youtube video that explains why.
• I have a high interest online savings account through a bank called Ally. They are currently offering 2.2% APY. No yearly fees. And they pay you every month! Pretty darn sweet.
• I participate in my company's 401K matching program as well as a health savings account (HSA)
• I'm starting to look into other ways of investing... it looks like index funds are the safe route!

Entertainment

• I utilize the library whenever possible. I'm just discovering my local branch has video games! Can you believe it! You can borrow video games from the library. For free!
• I use a smart phone app called, Libby through the minute man library network. Libby has an excellent design and user functionality and allows you borrow audio books from you local library. For free! Gotta love free stuff.
• Up until recently, I was mostly a PC-only gamer. All the video games I purchases were always heavily discounted - typically on a service called, Steam or GOG or practically free on Humble Bundle. I recently caved and purchased a sexy red Spider-Man themed PS4. Even still, I won't buy a brand-new game or pay full price.

Bills

• I do not own a top of the line smart phone nor do I see the need. I have a 'mid-range' Moto G5 Plus that I purchases unlocked from Motorola that does everything I need a phone to do. Being unlocked, this allows you to use it on pretty much any carrier. 
• Instead of being on one of the super expensive contractual cell phone plans, I pay for what I use on a plan through a company called, Ting. My bill is roughly $20 per month.
• My wife uses a similar service from Google's called, Google Fi
• I try to play the haggle game with Comcast, threatening to leave unless they lower my bill - and it has worked a few times, but they are such a shady company. They also have somewhat of a monopoly. ALSO, their internet only plan is MORE expensive than their internet + cable plan. WHY!? 
• I also purchased my own modem/router (wifi device) so I don't have to pay them a monthly rental fee

Clothing

• I'm VERY picky when it comes to what I wear. I'm also very cheap, so I don't buy clothes that often. When I do need to buy something, I shop around quite a bit for the best deal.
• I once bought a full price pair of J-Crew chinos. Unfortunately, I absolutely love them. Unfortunately, they cost around $80 new. For my next two pair (diff. colors), I shamelessly bought them second-hand on Ebay. One of them took several months of scanning Ebay listings. BUT, it was totally worth it. I bought one pair for $15 and another for $30. 
• I pick my shoes like I do my life partner. They need to be VERY close to perfect. If I find a pair I like at a department store like DSW, I'll search elsewhere for a better deal. My latest pairs of shoes were purchased on Overstock.com! 

The Restless Wave: Audiobook Review

Dork score: 8.5/10

The 'maverick', John McCain died too early. 81 years is a long time, but this world would have benefited greatly with more time with this fighter. We need more politicians like him. We need more people in the world like him.

Yes, he was a republican (I lean to the left), but that's just a label.

He spent his life fighting this political divide. He didn't automatically agree with people from his party. He supported many bipartisan policies. He worked to bring people together for common interests. He was a fighter, a humble hero, and a man I deeply respect.

The book's intro/outro was read by McCain himself, but the bulk of the book was read by actor Beau Bridges (older brother of actor Jeff Bridges (True Grit), son of Lloyd Bridges (Airplane)). While there voices are fairly different, they are similar enough that I sometimes forgot McCain was not the one speaking. Beau did a great job with this.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this memoir. He's written several books before this one, but this was the last one he wrote just before his passing. At the time of writing he likely knew he didn't have much time left, so he was unhindered in his speech. He is naturally an honest person, but with little time left, he was free to say what he wanted with no fear of backlash. For the most part, I was expecting him to open up about American politics and his honest views on it - and that is mostly what I got. It is very refreshing to have an insider's view like this. There's only so much you can learn from headline news and Twitter posts.

He went into depth on his foreign policies and his political travels abroad - while very important, didn't really grab my attention. A good chunk of the book was devoted this this because I think foreign policy was his thing. Being a veteran and a Vietnam prisoner of war, this makes a lot of sense. I know next to nothing about foreign policy, so I can't say I agree or disagree with his opinions.

One thing I love about John is great effort to unite people with apposing views. One of his best friends was Joe Lieberman, a democratic/independent senator from Connecticut. Funny enough, they never voted for the same candidate for president. He touches on this topic many times in the book. spending time to understand people with different opinions can be very beneficial. The political climate today is extremely polarized. This is why we need more John McCains.

Let's not forget this wonderful person. Here's some additional material in support of my respect.

An epic John McCain moment when he defends Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.

https://youtu.be/mwRWpOEmMCQ

John's funeral/eulogy by Barack: (Trump was not invited to his funeral while Barack was asked personally by John himself to give a speech)

https://youtu.be/raDyWogvQ2Y

Time article:

http://time.com/5260228/john-mccain-pow-history/

"If you haven't gotten the book, it is really worth getting. You don't need to agree politically, but as an American and as a human being, I think this is a book everybody should read." —Whoopi Goldberg

“It is clear McCain wants this book—sure to be his last—to be a guide for standing up for oppressed people around the globe, as he has done for decades.” —CNN