Welcome!
Hello and thank you for visiting my page! My name is Eric and I am the Frugal Fella. I am the oldest of three children and my parents were not well off as I was a kid but they made sure I had everything I needed. I had clothes (majority not brand name like I wanted when I was a teenager), shoes, and some toys. If I wanted something nicer than what they couldn’t afford I had to buy it myself! Growing up this way made me realize the value of a dollar at a young age.
I began college right after high school while working as a (self taught) mechanic at auto repair shops. I taught myself how to tint windows and began my own business. I have been self employed since the ripe old age of 20. I worked in the businesses I started for 20 years and with it being a service business, my body wasn’t allowing me to do things the way I once did them when I was younger. As much as I didn’t want to retire, I was forced to retire from the industry. I am not an individual that can just stand back and watch, I always was a full time (60+ hours a week) worker at my businesses. They were my babies!
Owning these businesses allowed me to learn more about the back end of business. Bookkeeping, marketing, employee relations, and many other aspects that go into running a business. I also noticed that there were different other factors that I could negotiate to get a lower price like utilities, cost of products, and just everyday supplies and tools to make the business be more profitable. I was working too hard for my money to watch everything I made go back out in bills.
There are not very many places that you can cut cost in a business but you get creative and weed out the unnecessary bills. Any necessary bills (electric, gas, phone, merchandise suppliers, and credit card processing to name a few) need to be analyzed to see if there is a lower cost alternative to increase your bottom line without increasing your price for the finished product you provide.
Being frugal with my business also transferred over to my personal life. It allows me to save money in every part of my life.
Currently, I have whittled my monthly bills (including food) to below $850 a month. I own a 1500 square foot newly remodeled house with a 2 car garage in a nice neighborhood with low taxes and cheap utilities. I purchase my groceries from a discount grocery store and eat mostly at home. Doing this is not only good for my wallet but my health too. I worked hard to pay off my 2011 Hyundai Sonata in 2 years, my school loans are paid off, and the only additional monthly bill I have is my cell phone.
Some of my interest that I enjoy doing on a daily basis are working out, cooking, researching things I may not know about, coming up with different ideas, and thinking outside the box. This blog is going to contain a mixture of posts about living frugally, finance, budgeting, and making money but will also contain my other interests as well.
There are other blogs that are not as truthful with their readers. I will persnally do my best to guide my readers in the correct direction for the best deal and post the correct information. I plan to do all the shopping for you and give different options with the pros and cons of each. I’m looking forward to providing helpful and useful content while being very informative to all my readers.
Stay thrifty my friends!
Eric
