Cheap Living Tips

One of the my favorite ways of stretching my dollar is to get things for free.  On this same note, I hate to see anything that is still useful get thrown into a dumpster.  I have recently discovered that there is a whole network of people worldwide who feel the same way about these two items.

They gather online at a site called Freecycle.org and describe themselves as follows:

• Reader Story: Rental Properties for the Average Joe

January 25, 2010 – I personally experienced one of the “rental horror stories” mentioned in this article. Although I had in the past worked for a rental management firm and my family had owned a few rentals over the years, my first attempt at owning rental property on my own was a disaster. I made a couple of mistakes that ended up costing me dearly. The first was letting a prospective tenant supply their own credit report, the second was not waiting until I had checked out their references thoroughly before allowing them to move in.

I ended up with an activist who belonged to something called a “renter’s coalition” who deliberately set traps in an effort to entrap me into violating their renter’s rights. While doing this they flagrantly caused damage to my property and violated health and safety standards in such a way that I was required to give them an eviction notice.
They counter-sued me and I ended up paying out thousands of dollars to see the end of them. Do be careful, there are people who are not nice and do not respond to your efforts to treat them with kindness or fairness.

The Truth About...

To be perfectly honest I haven’t had to face this dilemma in several decades but this morning I came across a “How To” article on this subject and it looks to me like the authors have covered the topic very well.  Therefore I would like to pass this on to all of you here at Cheaper Living Tips.

The writers presume that you have an income of roughly $1000 a month after taxes.  With that some to work with they outline an excellent guide for budgeting those funds to get by.

$500 (or less for rent & utilities)
$200 Food & household necessities (toiletries etc)
$100 Leisure
$30 Cell phone or Cable (pay as you go or drop entirely)
$170 (balance) Medical insurance or save for emergencies

Read the full article “How To Live On Minimum Wage” to get more tips on how to actually manage within these parameters.