They admit to being cheap, but they don’t have to be. Living frugal is a hoot to a Stanwood couple who say it’s fun to save money.
AARP Bulletin featured their story two years ago. “Positively Frugal” described how Ginger and David Dollarhide, (appropriate name, huh?) stretch retirement dollars to the max.
When their story appeared in AARP, the couple heard from old friends and strangers.
“It was incredible,” David Dollarhide said. “Everybody saw it. We were shocked.”
Are they still up to their old penny-pinching tricks? I didn’t think so, seeing their absolutely gorgeous home on the edge of Lake Ketchum. It’s a magnificent three-story house, complete with an elevator inside a turret.
And it’s paid for. Built stick by stick, Mr. Dollarhide said, with the help of family.
By day, week and month, they make a game out of living on less than $2,000 monthly from their Social Security checks.
And both have pensions, earmarked for travel and medical insurance. He taught at Mariner High School, then did carpentry, and she was a teacher and director of counseling for Catholic Community Services.
Discussing their tight budget, the couple giggle and giggle. They adore their lifestyle. They can eat for $2 a day. Both Depression babies, they don’t save string, but Ginger Dollarhide said they save everything else.
Here are some of their thrifty habits:
* Eat oatmeal and share one banana for breakfast.
* Reuse tea bags up to half a dozen times.
* If it gets cold and the house is chilly, read in a public library.
* Shop at dollar stores.
* Take deviled eggs to potlucks, they’re inexpensive.
* Make long distance calls using a phone card, but mostly use e-mail.
When they eat breakfast out, they head for Burger King where they get a deal on coffee.
For birthdays and Christmas, they appreciate receiving gift cards for Olive Garden from their grown children.
When Mrs. Dollarhide, 69, did a lot of volunteering, which paid her a mileage stipend, she combined trips to the grocery store with her job.
The couple uses frequent-flyer miles earned by charging on a credit card, but they pay the balance each month. They drive a very small motorhome on road trips. The important thing is to have an indoor potty, Mrs. Dollarhide said, and a place to cook.
Their 2005 Toyota Corolla gets 32 miles per gallon. They get a kick out of checking the mileage every time they fill the tank, he said.
“Our whole frugal living is a game,” David Dollarhide, 71, said. “We’ve had so much fun in retirement. We don’t gamble or pay interest. We don’t like to pay rich people for things.”
For entertainment, they enjoy walking, attending church and school programs, visiting friends and attending open houses and grand openings.
They know what hours to hit the warehouse store for sample food grazing. She bought a box of assorted greeting cards that brought the cost per card down to 50 cents. They buy big jars of peanuts and vitamins in bulk.
Friday mornings, they buy The Herald to scan our entertainment guide.
It was nice of them to let me inspect their monthly budget, which comes in at $1,952. It includes items such as $50 for Christmas gifts, $20 for haircuts and beauty products, $230 for food, $120 for propane, $310 for real estate taxes, $25 for cable TV, $175 for gas and $94 for cost overruns.
Laughing, Ginger Dollarhide says she has never paid for a manicure. They love blackberries from the garden, which are free. She digs up begonias and takes them indoors to winter, then replants bulbs in the spring.
But surely they like to splurge once in awhile.
“Starbucks has a wonderful caramel frappuccino,” she said. “But you can get a cheap frappuccino at Costco.”
His splurges are more grandiose. For his 70th birthday, they traveled to Peru. For her 70th, she hopes to see China.
They way they economize, I bet they’ll stroll on the Great Wall.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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