Warning: Graphic language ahead.

Some of you may have heard, but for those who do not know yet, there was a "

secret millionaire" who recently passed away.

Mr. Ronald Read was a man who exhibited many traits that is not at all surprising to this frugal community. He was a man who lived a humble life while having a seemingly unquenchable thirst to save and invest.

As a gas attendant and janitor, he surprised many in his community when, upon his passing, he bequeathed six million dollars in charity to a local library and hospital.

As a "secret millionaire", people like him rarely get the kind of recognition they deserve during their lifetime, not just due to their generosity and impact, but also for their ability in amassing such wealth-- especially when you consider Mr. Read's relatively low income-- and doing so in relative obscurity.

He may be gone now, but his charity will help many, and his inspiration will endure in people like myself.

Yay. Would have done it sooner, but I admit I was kind of dragging my feet.

Placed my refund into Amazon again, because I do nearly all of my year-round shopping online, and their 10% bonus is just too good to pass up.

I don't have any particular urges to buy anything having the money there, so I think I am OK.

However, I may be finally be upgrading my car this year, and if I decide to do that, it will likely be the Nissan Leaf. And if I should decide to do that, I may use the tax refund money to buy a spare charger through Amazon.

I think I am also going to look into upping my tax withholdings, although if you stop and think about it, it's amusing to consider that I am basically loaning Uncle Sam some of my money, but earning a guaranteed 10% return on Amazon... which may actually make it worth my while NOT to increase my withholdings. Funny thought, eh?

I've already made max contribution to my Roth electronically, though I am sure it won't actually settle until maybe another day or two.

I don't really have any particular New Years Eve resolutions other than the usual, which is to keep pushing to stay fit, stay frugal, and stay as happy as I can.

That last one, perhaps it's a bit vague and may run contrary to the first two resolutions. I don't know; we shall see.

In any case, I'm just glad the holiday season is over and hopefully the roads will quiet down so I drive and park again haha.

Anyways, how was your New Years Eve? And what are your resolutions if any?

I was going to start out by rambling about how materialistic this girl I know of, but the more I think about it, the more I realized that maybe that's still the norm. That perhaps I am the strange one.

I guess for a guy who has pondered about living in a van down by the proverbial river, my standards certainly doesn't quite match her more jet set lifestyle.

I have to keep reminding myself of this because when I get interested in someone, it's hard to see through the emotional fog so to speak.

It's a shame though, because I wish I could find somebody that is right for me. Somebody who sees frugality as a blessing, and not a curse.

Anybody like Michael Buble? Have Android (Google Play)? If so, his

Christmas album is free this week! I like Bubbles and it's free so I picked this up.

Speaking of freebies, the kitchen staff gave us a free meal at my work place, and the food was just well it's great for that price. I can't complain. I couldn't help but smile, so really, you can't beat that.

Uh happy holidays still!

* Finally got my rewards Visa card in the mail. Activated.

* Got a matching credit limit increase with my rewards Amex.

* Got both cards tied to my checking account for automatic cashback.

* Contributions for my Roth 2015 is standing ready.

So far so good.

Again, this is all I ever wanted to do with my CCs into the foreseeable future. So, am very pleased with the way things are now.

If I don't stop by again, I hope everyone have a safe and happy holidays!

I've had a rewards Amex for a while now, and I plan to keep using it. It gives me 2% cashback on all purchases, and I really want to build a history with Amex anyway.

However, there are times when I run into shops where they just won't take an Amex, and I've had to resort to an older, regular MasterCard.

So, I've been eyeing this rewards Visa card for a while now, and I was going to wait until next year to apply, but I decided to just go ahead and do it.

So, I am approved. This is great. The only downside with this card is that it only gives 1.5% cashback for the first $15k purchase. After that, it's 2%. So, for me, my CC habits will stay exactly the same. I am just going to keep charging everything on my Amex unless they don't take it. Then I'll switch to the Visa.

Best of all, both cards are tied to my investment accounts, so it is easy for me monitor everything all in one place, and any cashback rewards are automatically deposited into my checking account.

With that, I think I am done with credit cards for quite a while.

and a bit bored. I decided to read up on how much retirement homes cost, and I had no idea the cost could be so ridiculously high. I mean, anywhere from $3000 to $5000 on up per MONTH high!

Of course, these are the nice communities where they have gardens, swimming pools, and yoga classes. Also, I think government insurance will cover some of that? I am not sure how much so. Anybody know?

Still, all I can think of is how much cheaper I can live simply on my own... which I will probably end up doing. Hard to say right now since it's still something that's so far away in my mind.

Then again, Fruggies are well-known for planning ahead. So, just for discussion sake, anybody here ever thought about this yet? Any ideas for a frugal retirement?

Oh, and I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I am easily avoiding the Black Friday hub bub by... simply having to work haha.

Here's something amusing I came across on the net today.

Seriously though, thank you all out there for your service.

I forgot but I hit an invisible net worth milestone not too long ago.

It's amazing how, once upon a time, I thought it would be like winning-the-lottery awesome if I could reach this point.

Now that I am here though, it literally feels no different than I did before. In fact, I completely forgot.

Still, I need to be at this point financially, so it's not like I am unhappy about it. Plus, having goals and milestones helps keep me focused.

Anyways... yay! I went from feeling hopeless from years ago to feeling hopeful today. That peace of mind is certainly worth something. Yay!

My headset is finally breaking apart. The padding has disintegrated, and what's left hurts my ears when I wear it. More recently, I also accidentally dripped ranch dressing into one of the ears. I cleaned it the best I could but it still soaked into one of the earphones.

So I figure it's high time I replaced it. I shopped around for what I think is the best solution for me, but ultimately decided to just break out my existing earbuds and dusted an old mic I had sitting around.

The reason I didn't use all that before is because the headset was more convenient, combining both earphone and mic at the same time. The new setup splits it into two separate items again, BUT at least there is no new cost involved.

On another note, the weather is finally getting cold enough that I may need to cut the heater on at nights. It's not so much that I am freezing but I do sleep poorly if I get too hot or too cold. Last night was cold enough that I don't think I slept well....

Luckily, I don't think I have to do much more than pull out my old room heater, and it doesn't use much electricity for the temperature I need.

I am trying really hard to stay frugal. Some days, I do better than others. Other than that, my life is still the same as always.

Just found out I got a raise today. Yay. It isn't much, though far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, I am certainly happy with that. Yay.

Remember that friend of mine who loaned me money? (Correction: I loaned HIM money, not the other way around. Sorry for the confusion!) He finally sent me check, but then asked if I could delay cashing it. Turns out he's really tight on money. I said OK.

He then went on to tell me about how he got a new top-of-the-line smartphone and is building a fence for the yard. All I can think of is, "Wow really? In the same conversation?" Perhaps that's why money is tight. Haha.

All good though. Most of it is already paid off and I can afford to wait another week or so.

Beyond that, not much new. I'm just trying my best to keep my boat of life afloat and on course.

Elsewhere, on another financially-related forum that is mostly populated with the younger crowds (20's and early 30's), they're talking about the importance of enjoying life over agonizing over a budget. After all, they say, what is the point of working so hard for your wages if you don't enjoy life a little?

Now, see, this to me is the exact definition of "Knowing just enough to be dangerous".

No one on there argues that one should not save or set aside some money for rainy days. The thing is, to them, budgeting is not fun. Budgeting is something you do as a chore. I get it. Some people don't like it, and that's fine.

However, they're taking it to the next step and saying, look, I work hard, I make money, and basically I should be allowed to spend freely to enjoy life, without having to budget if I don't want to, and without having to be constrained by said budget because, after all, I am working and I can always make more.

Bzzz. Wrong. To me, spending without knowing your budget is to drive at night with your headlights off. You just don't know where you are going and what will happen to you.

And see, here's the funny part. I am at a point now where I too am operating relatively freely in terms of spending and is not as restrictive on budget. However, the difference is that I've been operating within my budget for so long that I KNOW when I am doing something that may throw my budget off. (I also only have to track myself, so it's really not hard.)

The bottom line is, YES, YOU NEED TO BUDGET. You don't have to LIKE budgeting, but you do need to know what is going on with your money. The fact that I know what's going on without having to physically look at my budget doesn't mean I don't have a budget.

Ok, just had to get that off my chest. Honestly, these kids. They're also the type that loves to pursue stock and option trading, which I think is way over-rated, but that's a topic for another time.

Ahoy there! Tis National Speak like a Pirate Day, mateys! Why speak like a Pirate on this very fine day? Because it's free, that's why! So don't be a land-lubber and speak away, lest ye be walking the plank. Yaaaaar!

So I read an

interesting article about a college professor who is currently living inside a dumpster. He did add a roof on it, but I have to really wonder: Of all the man-made objects he could have picked, why a dumpster bin?

On the upside, the rolling open air roof is pretty neat.

Hey SA! WANT TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO FELLOW REGULARS ON HERE? Wouldn't that be fun? Don't be shy now, it's FREE! How do you sign up? It's easy! Just comment below that you want to, and I'll send you a handy dandy email on how to set it up.

Only one requirement: You have to be a regular here with forum or blog contributions for, say, the past 3 months. Something like that. I just don't want anyone to just create an account out of nowhere and take advantage of this because space is limited and this service still costs me money.

Alright, now for the long version of this. I think, by now, everyone knows about MagicJack. If you already have an internet connection, it's a great money saver.

However, if you don't need a service to keep your legacy phone number (say, you operate only with a cellphone phone number like me), or you make a lot of international calls, then something like Skype is even better... because it's free.

Now, if you want to take a step beyond even that, like a highly reliable service that allows simultaneous connections from 10 to 1000 people at once... then you'll want something like Mumble or TeamSpeak.

Services like these are often marketed to small businesses with conferencing needs, or for video gamers who run and coordinate large groups (which is what I do with it). However, that does not mean they can't work for everybody else. In fact, they are ridiculously over-powered for regular use.

And what's cost for this level of power? How about $1.45 a month (for 10 concurrent users)? Sounds reasonable? WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Act now, and we'll slash that down to a low, low price of only $0.00 a month just to join! Why is that? Because that $1.45 a month is only for the person renting the service. Everybody else can join it for free!

See, this beats MagicJack because that signs up everybody has to pay for it (mostly to retain a legacy phone number), and it beats Skype because Skype is designed to work mostly for one-on-one conversations (though I've seen it work for up to four people). Also, it will tax your internet as it makes you the host every time, whereas paying for Mumble makes the company host it for you. That way, it's super reliable and the call quality is always great, no matter how many people are on (and believe me, I've been in chats with 800+ people logged in, and it works amazingly well).

Oh yeah, and this will pretty much work regardless of what country you are in. I've talked to people all over the US with, along with Canada, Brazil, Europe, and Australia.

Now, if you've managed to read all that, you may be thinking to yourself, "Ok, well, this sounds all well and good and whatever, but why should I be interested in this?" Well, I am already paying for the service, but I still have space available, so I figure I'd extend the invitation to fellow SAers, in case you guys are interested in talking with each other or even me. I've moved the invitation up to the top so people will see it.

This is more of a reminder for me more than anything because, I keep forgetting about this company and their links.

Wish Bone Tiny Homes is a small company near where I live that builds some of the best looking tiny houses in the area. In fact, I dare say living in one would be a dream come true for me.

The trouble with tiny houses like this is that they need a place to park, and there just aren't any around me that's also near where I work. So, that's a problem.

Still, I like them. I feel inspired looking at them. I sometimes even drool a little when staring too hard.

While I'm here, The Cider Box looks amazing too. Like a tiny house that's built for a man or something.

This one is nice too. It looks more like a vacation villa

* So a friend of mine texted me saying their bathroom was clogged up by a customer at the spa she works at. It is located upstairs, but somehow, the clogged water leaked down and ruined some pastries from a pastry shop located below them.

Anyways, her boss called a plumber who wanted to charge $150 to fix everything, but the boss tried to haggle him down to $100. Is this frugal, cheap, or perhaps a bit of both?

On top of all that, said toilet-clogging customer also didn't have money to pay for his services. A co-worker asked to keep his wallet or cellphone until he can get the money. He got very angry and started yelling at them, refusing or some such. The co-worker didn't push it and allowed him to leave, promising he would come back and pay. He never came back.

* I think it's pretty much established now that much of our manufactured goods comes from Asia, especially the likes of China and Hong Kong. However, even the sterotype of "cheap goods" is starting to fade away as, for example, the Chinese company FoxConn is contracted to make most of the iPhones that we use today. In short, places like China went from making cheap goods to both cheap and decent goods.

If you think about it, that means a lot of companies that we buy stuff from are actually more like western middlemen. So, what if you can buy direct?

Enter alibaba.com. First, let me preface by saying that, no, I haven't bought anything from this place yet, so I have no direct experience. However, it seems that a lot of (low-key) buzz has been generated from buying goods direct from that site, as you can pretty much get very similar or even the same items you would buy domestically for a fraction of the price. Ok yes, you can buy cheap knockoffs too if you are into that.

However, I have also heard crazy, crazy things listed there like

houses, used commercial jets, a submarine, and... 500 million tiny screws if you really want. The point is, alibaba is a huge, online, international bazaar where it seems like anything goes. Who knows, it may be fun place to sift through and see if you can't find a few great deals. Looking for a cheap toy for your little niece or nephew? Look no further.

Caveat Emptor though, because unlike buying from Amazon, Alibaba still harbor all kinds of shady scammers. Be sure to check your seller's background before buying anything, and in the beginning, perhaps start out with something cheap first.

* I like reading SA in the mornings. I don't know why exactly. I just do. Feels refreshing. Kind of like a shot of financial caffeine to get the day going and staying focused. Uh ok, I guess that's why.

* After testing the Sprint network for a weekend, I have decided to complete my shift over to Republic Wireless. Moved my phone number over, and cancelled my older provider.

Unlimited voice, text, and high-ish speed data for $40 a month. Unlimited talk and text for $10 a month for my parents. Plus, I just loooove the Moto X.

Mmmmm what else... Not much really. To me, no news is good news though. So long as things keep rolling forward, I am content, and they are.

My parents want me to look into cellphones for them, and while I am at it, I decided to look into lowering my own cellphone bill as well. Here's a quick profile of my parents and I:

My mom looooves to talk on the phone. I am not sure what her usage is like, but basically, she needs unlimited minutes. No need for data or text.

I, on the other hand, am a data junkie. I am terrible. As difficult as it may be, I would love to have unlimited data. Very little need for voice and text, though I do need them.

My dad is the easiest, since he only needs to be contacted when he is out playing tennis, and that's IF he's not in the middle of a game. So, very little need for voice, no need for data and text.

So, anybody know what's the best rates out there for the three of us?

In the meantime, I've looked around myself, and I believe

Republic Wireless is the best deal for us. Republic Wireless operates on the same Sprint network as Ting, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and obviously Sprint. However, they are able to cut back costs even more by offering built-in voice, text, and data by going through WiFi where available.

And how much are we talking about? For my parents, they are only $10 a month each! For that price, you get unlimited voice and text, whereas on Ting, you can only get 100 minutes, 100 texts, or 100 mbs.

As for me, I know that Sprint's 4G coverage is spotty where I am, so really, I could probably get by with only 3G. I am used to 4G LTE, and I currently chew through roughly 10gigs a month, so this would be a dramatic cutback for me. However, I am willing to cut back in exchange for a $25 a month phone bill!

Total, that's $45 a month for three people! You can't beat that with a stick! Well, yes you can, but I meant that figurately. Actually, I would probably want to try their 4G again, so at least the first month would be $60, but that rate is still amazing for the three of us.

There is a downside to this, and it is the paltry phone selection and their price tags. From what I understand, only so many phones are capable of this wifi feature right out of the box. That means the cheapest phone available right now is the Moto G for $150 a pop. I am willing to upgrade to the Moto X for $300.

However, if you extend that to calculate for the total cost of ownership over the course of a typical two year period, that still equates to only $390 per phone for my parents. For me, the cost would be $925 for the 3G plan, and $1260 for the 4G plan. For two years, that's still pretty good.

So, that's the best deal I've found so far. Can you guys find anything better? Would love to hear it if you can.

After some email exchanges about it, it would appear that while I can cancel my 401(k) because they don't do employer match here, but they also require that I take my own free time off to jump through hoops of fire in various sizes in order to speak to someone about cancelling it....

So, after looking at my rather paltry contribution right now, and add that my surprisingly reasonable net expense ratio of 0.44%... well, I decided to leave it alone.

Plus, if or when I ever gross enough to hit the next tax bracket, I'm going to want to use this and even increase my 401(k) contributions anyway. This is actually the biggest reason why I'm just going to leave it alone here... because I may need it some day down the road.

I was watching this

video last night, and while it kind of delved more into the psychology behind money, it was still interesting and informative.

As a gamer myself, I was also amused at the constant Skyrim visual references in there (though that game really had nothing to do with economy).

Anyways, I just thought I'd share that.

I found this article rather amusing. Apparently, in CA, when you win something, like on the Price is Right, you have to pay the taxes on it right then and there before you can cart off your prizes.

Here's the kicker. Say, for example, you don't really need the extra sofa set and the pool table, but you win it anyways, well you would still have to pay the taxes for it. You're almost better off refusing some of the prizes....

I'm just waiting for some constant to say, "How much in taxes is that?" on the air.

Against my better judgment, I loaned a friend of mine $5000 last year. For me, it's no small change, and this friend of mine isn't exactly the best at finances, or else, he would not be asking me for a loan in the first place.

However, I know he's solid, and would pay it back eventually. Well, he finally did, as promised, one year later. Mostly.

Yesterday, I received a letter containing a check for $4000 and a thank you note. This is all he could repay at this time, and I told him not to sweat it. I am certain he will pay back the last $1000 in time.

Yes, I know this was a very risky move. In fact, I had pretty much wrote it off that I've lost the $5000. Except for this one time, I normally do not loan money out to anyone, especially friends. Because I know it can ruin friendships.

Either way, at least I got most of it back yesterday, which gives me a nice boost to my bottom line.

I was

reading this article, and although it was written a year ago, I wonder if this claim still holds. I'm sure it still does, though I wonder if things have improved at all.

I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I had made a different choice. For example, I just happened to be thinking about this woman I once dated. She wanted to be more serious, but I ended up breaking up with her.

There was a lot of things that I liked about her, but there was many more that gave me pause. Chief among them was how she spends money (and other people's money like mine at the time). It made me realize that we were not at all financially compatible.

Money isn't everything, but being financially healthy is important, and there's no way I could have accomplished that if I chose to stay with her. From time to time, I have to remind myself that there are worse things than loneliness....

Kind of a back-to-back blog posting today but this is kind of a big deal. Houses always are, since they are generally the biggest ticket item that most average households end up spending on.

...and one I am desperately trying to keep the costs down.

While I am really glad many got a kick out of my closet escapade, to me this is just daily life for me now. No joke, if you give me a 1200 square feet house, I'm going to take up only, say, 200 of it total. Bathroom included. Actually, I think it's even less than that.

I never actually sat down and measured it, but the point is I just don't need all that space. I know because this is exactly how I have been living for the past several years.

So, the thought of me getting another house some day just... well, it just doesn't make any sense to me. Why pay all that money, insurance, utility bills, and so forth for something that I am mostly never going to use?

That's why I was willing to look into vandwelling, although that doesn't look like it's going to work for me either....

So what do you think? What are my alternatives? I'm open to any suggestions you may have.

In the meantime, if I can't vandwell, the next step up for me in terms of options is a tiny house. I don't know if any of you have heard of the Tiny House movement, but we're basically talking about roughly 200 to 400 square feet of living space. However, to give you an idea of what that looks like,

here's a picture gallery from a company that is near where I.... Something like that costs roughly $40k, not including the land to put it on.

It's beautiful, isn't it? I think it is. It's not without its own drawbacks, but I think it is worth considering.

I'm not gonna lie. There's this phone I really want. I want it bad, and what's worse is that I have the money to get it right now without breaking the piggy bank....

However, I don't need it. In fact, my current phone is pretty darn nice too.

So, it's hard fighting temptation sometimes, but in the end, I did not buy it. I will seek other options, or at the very least sleep on it. It's just hard sometimes because I was not always frugal to begin with, and once in a while, I also forget why I became frugal in the first place. The dark hole I crawled out from. The hardship I had to endure to get to where I am now.

While I'm here, I need to call my cellphone provider and see if I can't get the monthly cost lower. Last month, I only used 20 phone minutes and had 40 texts. Really, I should be on Virgin Mobile or Ting, and may do just that if they can't lower it.

Anyways, I hope everyone had a nice Happy Easter.

I kept losing blog entries and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. But now I think I know. Maybe. Is it because this place has a timer? Like if I don't finish my entry within say an hour, it is gone? If so, anybody know how long I have before it expires?

I am writing at work so I don't always finish in a timely fashion, but if this is indeed what is making me lose my entries, then I will be much more observant about my time from now on.

Anyways, uh, what was I going to say again? It wasn't very interesting to be honest. Probably just as well that the original entry got lost this time.

Oh yeah, I meant to say that I am tired and I worked like 122+ hours the past two weeks, and yet, my taxes, insurance, retirement contribution, and so forth is eating a third of my entire gross. Yikes.

Also, summer heat seems to have arrived early for me. Early enough to make me sweat and itch and not sleep well... which is bad when paired with working so many hours. (It's also crazy that I know some who have worked even more than that.) So, I broke out my room AC, but this time, I even bought and added window insulation to both improve my AC's efficiency, as well as effective block out the sun light in my room. I work night shift and I read that the sun can be quite disruptive when trying to sleep during the day.

Finally, I am probably close to replacing my current car... which will be a pain, but I guess the day was going to arrive inevitably. This time, I am seriously staring at vehicles that can allow me to modify and turn into campers, at least for part-time living. Yes, it is a crazy idea... but I just really hate mortgages and rent that much.

The biggest challenge with vandwelling (as the community likes to call it) believe it or not is with the AC. ACs draw an extremely large amount of power; enough that portable electrical power just isn't going to cut it. Most just end up traveling further up north during the summer time, but I can't leave due to family and work. This is the one aspect of mobile life that I have yet to crack....

I can probably ramble on more about this, but I better stop here and post before I lose this entry as well.