Lazy Man and Money

  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
    • What I’m Doing Now
  • Consumer Protection
    • Is Le-vel Thrive a Scam?
    • Is Jusuru a Scam?
    • Is Beachbody’s Shakeology a Scam?
    • Is “It Works” a Scam?
    • Is Neora (Nerium) a Scam?
    • Youngevity Scam?
    • Are DoTERRA Essential Oils a Scam?
    • Is Plexus a Scam?
    • Is Jeunesse a Scam?
    • Is Kangen Water a Scam?
    • ViSalus Scam Exposed!
    • Is AdvoCare a Scam?
  • Contact
  • Archive

Cheap Alternatives to Men’s Gold or Platinum Wedding Bands

November 17, 2015 by Christina Garofalo 7 Comments

Weddings are expensive.

Weddings are so expensive, in fact, that even as the typical wedding involves fewer guests, the average cost for what’s typically a five-hour event has shot up to $31,213, as of 2014 according to a survey conducted by The Knot, a multi-platform wedding resource. And the price continues to increase.

Sonic Rings
These are not the rings you are looking for

And when you’ve already resigned yourself to the fact that you’re supposed to spend tens of thousands to have your perfect day, what’s another couple of thousand on a groom’s ring, right?

A wedding band is another piece in the up-sell of everything that goes into a wedding

It’s almost too easy to want to spend money on your wedding; we see them as special, once-in-a-lifetime events wherein every item is a symbol, wrought with sentiment and meaning.

However, many of the aspects of a wedding that we think of as long-held, important traditions are actually relatively new inventions thought up by the wedding business to make money. The diamond engagement ring – almost entirely a 20th century creation at the hands of De Beers and its hired marketers – is perhaps the most famous example.

The groom’s wedding band is no different.

While there is evidence of women wearing wedding rings back to ancient Egypt, research indicates that it wasn’t the norm for men to wear wedding bands before World War II.

There are a couple of theories behind the birth of the two-ring trend: when men went off to fight in the second World War, many of them were said to have worn wedding bands to reminisce upon their wives back home. Other sources point to the growing gender equality between men and women — if the woman is wearing a ring, so should the man.

Whatever the reason, jewelers were all too happy to take the opportunity to sell yet another expensive item to American lovebirds — and it worked.

Yet, while men and women have taken great strides toward equality, the same cannot be said of our wedding bands. It is not uncommon for a woman’s wedding band to have a high level of artistry — diamonds and semi-precious stones, halos, eternity settings — while most men prefer a simple sliver of metal, which could be achieved easily by even the most novice jeweler.

But because they both fit into that same “wedding” box, men will pay far more than what they have to for what amounts to an inornate band, simply because soon-to-be newlyweds approach the purchase with their eyes closed and their wallets open.

Smarter options

The bulk of the upcharge comes by convincing men to stick to rings made of platinum or gold if they want something that will last a lifetime.

But the simplicity that many men want in their wedding bands offers the opportunity to go with a less traditional material that will be as durable — if not more durable — for a lot less money.

One option that is particularly well-suited to the simple designs of men’s wedding bands is titanium. While it is very difficult to solder and thus not as great a choice for more ornate jewelry that might have to be re-sized, titanium is inexpensive to machine into simple circles of a given size. Moreover, titanium is biocompatible – meaning you won’t have an allergic reaction to wearing it – and less susceptible to tarnish and scratches than more expensive metals including gold.

Another material that takes advantage of the relatively simple design of men’s wedding rings is tungsten carbide. This chemical compound is extremely hard so you wouldn’t be able to re-size anything made of it, but can be pressed into pre-determined shapes for a relatively low price. The resultant hardness means that tungsten carbide rings are extremely durable and very difficult to scratch. However, it is important to note that different manufacturers use different compositions of tungsten and carbon, with nickel and cobalt often involved as well, and that the different combinations can mean that these rings can differ greatly in physical properties. As always, read reviews to have the best idea of what you’re getting.

Besides these two, jewelers also offer men’s wedding rings in any number of novel, inexpensive materials that include, but are certainly not limited to, ceramics, steel, meteorite, and dinosaur bone. Needless to say, with a little creativity and legwork you can find something meaningful that won’t break the bank – a welcome relief given the high cost of other aspects of getting married.

Filed Under: Couples and Money, Frugal, Wedding Tagged With: wedding bands

This $2 Million Man Lives in a Van Down by the River

April 6, 2015 by Lazy Man 2 Comments

Today is Opening Day for most baseball teams and that means the smell of freshly cut grass and cracking open a bag of peanuts.

It’s also a great time to talk about the frugality of baseball players who are worth millions of dollars. Wait, what?

A few weeks back a friend forwarded me this article about a man who lives in a van. He wakes up everyday in his 1978 Volkswagon camper behind WalMart. He cooks some food on a camping stove. He doesn’t look like he’s shaven in months.

You’d think he doesn’t have a penny to his name, but you’d be wrong. He is pitching prospect Daniel Norris and he was awarded a $2 million signing bonus by the Toronto Blue Jays.

This video shows some of his lifestyle in action:

The article mentioned above is a great read. You realize how different he is. Here are some excerpts from the article:

“All of their bonuses had been deposited on the same day, and one of the players suggested they drive to a Tampa mall. They shopped for three hours, and by the time the spree finally ended they could barely fit their haul back into the car. Most players had spent $10,000 or more on laptops, jewelry and headphones. Norris returned with only a henley T-shirt from Converse, bought on sale for $14. It’s been a fixture of his wardrobe ever since.”

“His advisers deposit $800 a month into his checking account — or about half as much as he would earn working full time for minimum wage. It’s enough to live in a van, but just barely. ‘I’m actually more comfortable being kind of poor,’ he says, because not having money maintains his lifestyle and limits the temptation to conform.”

He’s not materialistic with the exceptions of the a few items that he has a history with such as his van, Shaggy.

He’s taken frugality beyond anything that I’ve seen on Extreme Cheapstakes. Those people have some kind of psychological issue against spending money. Daniel Norris doesn’t spend money, because the life he wants to live doesn’t require it.

I feel like I could write a few hundred more words on how unusual this is, but I’d prefer you read the other articles. They are written better than I could do by people who have spent time with Norris. Some have written about Norris from a personal finance perspective. That article features a great Wheel of Life from Money Quotient that I haven’t seen before.

Update: I’m clearly late to the game in waiting until Opening Day on this article. The Today Show has a feature on Norris as well.

Filed Under: Frugal Tagged With: Daniel Norris

This is How You Live the High Life

March 12, 2015 by Lazy Man Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I heard some disturbing news. Windell Middlebrooks had died at the age of 36. Most people hadn’t heard of the name (I hadn’t either), but many are familiar with some of his work.

He was the actor in a few of my favorite commercials. He did other acting, but you’ll probably know him for these.

“$11.50 for a hamburger?!?! Step aside mon ami…. $11.50 for a hamburger, you all must be crazy!”

And there’s this one:

“Closest to the track, but farthest from reality…”

My favorite of the commercials is this one:

“Up here in section, ‘La-ti-da'” gets me every time. It is one of my (and my wife’s) pet peeves when we see people at sporting event not following the sporting event. The worst is when a television network will put its stars in the stands, so that they have excuse to bring up another of their shows.

This space is not typically one that highlights beer commercials. However, let’s take a minute and recognize that these commercials do an excellent job of speaking to the average blue collar worker.

I love the focus on the frugality of “an honest beer at an honest price.” (I can overlook the fact that you wouldn’t likely find Miller High Life in a fancy French bistro or on ice at the Kentucky Derby.)

My only regret here is that I didn’t highlight the commercials before Middlebrooks died. I know I should separate the man from the character, but let’s pour out a little High Life for him.

Filed Under: Frugal Tagged With: Miller High Life, Windell Middlebrooks

Ultra Frugality Mode Activated!

September 8, 2014 by Lazy Man 4 Comments

From the beginning of starting Lazy Man and Money, I’ve been a proponent of both saving and investing. I’ve found that this is kind of an unusual stance amongst personal finance bloggers. While most everyone agrees that both are important, I usually see them lean heavily in one direction or the other.

I don’t think there is necessarily a right or wrong way to work. I know people who make six figures that begin with a crooked number, but they have little savings. There are others who don’t make a lot of money, but they find a way to squirrel it away and watch it grow to financial freedom.

The math is extremely simple, the different between what you make vs. what you spend equals freedom. You can create more freedom, or get freedom faster by making more or spending less.

I believe in the two equally, probably more than most personal finance bloggers. That’s why you can go from one article yesterday: Time to Buy Yahoo Stock? to today’s article about becoming extra frugal.

With that long-winded explanation out of the way, our family has embarked on a mission to kick the frugality up a notch for a couple of months… at least as much as possible.

Why the sudden change?

One of the tenants moved out of one of our investment properties. The kitchen cabinets and counters were the original ones from the early 80s… and I don’t think they were particularly well-made then. Even with a small kitchen and the most basic cabinets, the costs kept rising and rising. We thought it would be around $6500, but legitimate, though hidden costs started to creep in. And then there was the mold removal from a pipe that had been leaking for who knows how long. By the time we are done, we’re probably going to put 10-12K into this.

That’s a lot of money to spend in a month, especially when you don’t have a tenant in the property to pay rent.

None of this is really a surprise and I’ve created spreadsheets to depreciate and amortize most of the major maintenance. At the same time, it’s psychologically a big deal. That’s one of the interesting factors at work here.

Seeing a big drop in available cash is never a good thing. When it comes from one account it can seem worse than it is. My wife and I ran a comprehensive net worth that we tend to do every few months. The result was that we still had a plenty of accessible cash… it was just spread in a few different accounts (some mine, some hers, some shared). This was a huge step in mitigating the psychologically big hit.

The other interesting thing is that it triggered us to move into an “ultra frugality” mode. Well, maybe not “ultra”, but “very, very mindful.” Here are some changes we found we could make nearly right away:

  • Eat Out Less – We have an Entertainment-type book and though we feel like are getting a good deal, we are not saving money with it. We’ve been using it a lot this summer to “get out of the house.” By a lot, I’d say about twice a week, not five times or anything like that. We should be able to cut it down a bit.
  • Eat Down the Food – We have a chest freezer and it’s full of food. We also have shelving units full of food. I got most of this food by stocking on great deals. Now it’s time to eat it down. We’ve challenged each other to make each meal with something from this storage. Aside from staples like milk, the hope is to not have to spend money to bring in more food for little while.
  • Have “Limited Spend” Days – My wife had Friday off and we paid for day care anyway, so we took the kayak to the beach and paddled around a bit. (Now you know why there was no article last Friday.) Saturday we took the kids to a free playground. Little Man (2 years old) had a ton of fun. Mini Man (8 months) enjoyed watching and doing a little crawling. Sunday, I watched the Patriots play one of their worst 2nd halves of football in the last 14 years. As they say, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”

    We still ended up spending money on these days… but it was small amount.

We’re also trying sell excess stuff Ebay. In some ways, that amounts to drop in the bucket, and it can be a lot of work, but every little bit helps.

It sounds like a perfect plan except for two things.

The annual financial blogger conference is this month. That’s in New Orleans. Fortunately, I literally wrote the post on how to visit New Orleans on a budget. Also, finance companies sponsor lunches and the occasional libation. (Note to any such companies reading this, please send me your invites.)

The other thing is a two-week trip to Aruba a couple of months later. We have our Marriott Vacation Club time share that was bought a decade ago now. I’ll be applying everything from Save Money in Aruba and Save More Money in Aruba to minimize expenses.

I think what it comes down to is that I’ve always been frugal with my purchases, trying to maximize value. However, over the next couple of months, I’ll try to combine that with an eye towards not spending money at all, when it is reasonable.

Filed Under: Frugal Tagged With: aruba, New Orleans, real estate empire

The Best Frugal Baby Toys I’ve Found

October 13, 2015 by Lazy Man 9 Comments

Last week, my first son reach a milestone. He’s been alive one revolution of the earth around the sun. During that time we’ve both done a lot of growing. I’d like to share with you a few of the things that I’ve learned.

One of things we’ve learned is that he’s not impressed by expensive toys, yet. In fact, he loves a lot of really cheap toys. Specifically,

  • A Dollar Store Pot – A local dollar store had a plastic cooking set for a buck. The pot is perfect for him to hold and bang on any table, floor, or wood-burning stove (when off, of course). He loves the sound of it on different things. My wife thinks this is an indication that he’ll grow up to be a great chef. I just think he’s exploring the world. He’ll grow up fast enough, we probably don’t need to typecast to a career yet.
  • Giant Hand Clapper – This is another dollar store find. This may be giving the wrong impression that we do a lot of shopping at the dollar store, but these are the only two items we’ve bought. I’m hesitant to buy more, why mess with a perfect record.
  • Baby Crab Hat – It’s not the exact hat in the link, but that’s a representation of it. To be fair, this isn’t a toy and it actually wasn’t frugal. I had to throw it in so that I can write, “I got my baby addicted to pot and gave him crabs and the clap.” (I’d go into more detail, but I’d have to run it by my lawyer first.)
  • Curious George’s Opposites – This was one of the first books we got (it was a gift) and it was a hit from the beginning. I’m think it might have a calming effect like I get with an old Seinfeld re-run. In truth he loves all books, but he’ll go dig through his whole toy bin pick up the book and bring it to us to read to him. It was amazing to see him do that when he had just barely managed to crawl.
  • Look, Baby Flash Cards – This is just a step below Curious George Opposites. Between these two, I’ve been able to distract him from severe teething pain while the baby Tylenol takes effect. Combine all that with Baby Oragel and the biggest meltdown becomes sleepy time.
  • Baby Einstein on YouTube – We have a number of Baby Einstein DVDs, but I’ve found it is easier to call up YouTube on my TV. Can’t beat the price of free. I realize that there’s evidence that baby’s under two shouldn’t watch television, but he really enjoys it and I can tell he’s actually learning from it. If I were an expert in baby education perhaps I could a better job, but I’m not. My favorite of the videos is Primeras Palabras as it covers learning Spanish complete with baby sign language from Marlee Matlin.

    As for the watching of copyrighted material for free, I have to imagine that Disney, worth around 115 billion dollars this morning could easily get it removed if they wanted to.

What are the best frugal baby toys you’ve found?

Filed Under: Frugal Tagged With: baby, parenting

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 15
  • Next Page »

As Seen In…

Join and Follow

RSS Feed
RSS Feed

Follow Me on Pinterest

Search The Site

Recent Comments

  • Steveark on Artificial Intelligence Changes Everything
  • Steveark on How Many Days of Financial Freedom do you Have?
  • Wesley on How Many Days of Financial Freedom do you Have?
  • Wesley on Should We Worry About the Debt Ceiling?
  • Lazy Man on Thiel’s Scandalous Roth IRA and What You Can Learn From It

Please note that we may have a financial relationship with the companies mentioned on this site. We frequently review products or services that we have been given access to for free. However, we do not accept compensation in any form in exchange for positive reviews, and the reviews found on this site represent the opinions of the author.


© Copyright 2006-2023 · Perfect Plan Publishing, Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · A Narrow Bridge Media Design