Some Black Frugal Nostalgia

 Hello My Peoples,

Some nostalgia, I posted the blog below years ago when I first started. My girls are both in college, Ivy League and post graduate work abroad. My wife and I are still together. I left the South for New England and I just had my $15 Cole Hann shoes repaired for guess what? $15. I still have that 2006 Volvo XC 70 I bought for 10 grand. It has 300,000 miles, looks good, but my wife thinks we should bail on it. The yearly repairs still don’t match a new car payment. I now own 2 homes, live comfortably under the radar, own a Costco and BJ’s membership and a membership in a food cooperative where the food is fresh and healthy.

Hello,

I am a frugal black man that lives life to the fullest. I am a strong brother with a lovely wife and two beautiful kids. My goal here is to create a movement of black people, who like being at the opposite end of the bling bling society. This group will get thrills from not purchasing a new Coach bag at retail with their Platinum card, but from getting a gently used pair of Cole Hanns for $15.00 at a consignment store and by having people guess how you are living. You will take the journey with me as I help raise a 3 year old and 8 year old (girls) responsibly and frugally. They already know the code words for Goodwill and how to say "My grandmother bought this in a specialty shop in Atlanta."

Now, don't get me wrong. My wife and I have masters degrees from prestigious private universities and live in a golf club community, but I can squeeze water from a rock.

I never buy cars that cost more than $10,000 and they have to have at least 100,000 miles on them.
I will share my thought process on this later along with my mother's old wisdom sayings like,
"It's not how much you make, It's what you do with what you make."

Sorry but I have to get some shut eye.

Frugal Frank from the Blackside

Black Christmas 2022

 Hello My Peoples, 

You know I just can’t seem to blog as much lately, but the holiday season always bring me back here. We have lost so many greats this year, Irene Cara, Bernard Shaw, Ramsey Lewis, Bill Russell, LeonTalley, Lani Guinier, Sidney Poitier. Hats off to these greats. I have been blessed with my family and friends through this COVID pandemic and yes, I still wear my mask. 

As most of you already know, now is not a good time to retire. Unless you hate your job, what’s the hurry? You probably have at least 4 weeks of vacation, a paid off home and possibly older kids. Right now you should be thinking of what comes next on your last day and taking it easy is not an answer. Hell, you can “quiet quit” on your current job. Oh, for you old asses who don’t stay current, “quiet quitting” is when you cut back your activities on your current job. You start using those sick days, stop working overtime and weekends, and stop stressing about the little shit. 

Did you know that many black people go downhill with health after retirement? Because work was the only activity we did, we become inactive, gain weight and start having health problems. We retire because people tell us that’s what you should do at a certain age or we listen to some dumbass financial advisor using a generic algorithm that tells us we are good. Here is the thing, I don’t want to volunteer at church every day or hang out at the senior center with those old ass white people or keep bad ass grandkids. So, Frugal Frank what shall we do you ask? Follow along then:

Step 1: Get your ass in shape, stop going home and taking a nap after work. Exercise or join a Pickleball group. Use your employee discount for health club membership. Buy a Fitbit and make sure you walk 10000 steps a day, with at least 500 moderate jogging.(get that heart pumping)

Step 2: Stop eating fast food, anything high in sodium, no sodas and reduce carbs.

Step 3: Stop waiting for retirement to go places on the weekends and I don’t mean shopping. Go to museums, parks, performances. A one night weekend driveable trip can do wonders.

Step 4: Do your “quiet quit” at work, if you are still down South, those people are probably working you too damn hard anyway. My trick is, you only have to stay 5 more minutes than your boss. They neither know or care if you worked 5 minutes or 5 hours, because their asses are hanging out at the Country Club.

Step 5. Survey your neighborhood. I don’t care how long you have lived there, if Pokie is selling weed next door and gunshots happen as often as the mail, you need to plan on moving after retirement. Find a nice safe area with walking and bike trails.

Step 6. Before leaving your job, try living on 1/3 of your salary for a year or two, because that’s retirement. If you can’t do it with a job, then you better put on that Walmart greeter vest.

So, this is your starter list. 

Also stay invested. I have been through three downturns. We probably have another year or two to go, but it will rally back.

For Christmas, don’t buy too much unnecessary stuff. For ideas check out my previous Christmas blogs.

Peace out and stay frugal,

Frugal Frank from the Blackside