When people are on a budget, they tend to cut out "luxury" items like eating out, going to the movies, getting a cup of coffee...you know, having a life. But, with a little knowledge and some pre-planning, you don't have to miss out on the little extras that make life worth living.

I'm a big fan of movies. Actually, I should say I'm a big FANATIC when it comes to movies. I especially like action and sci-fi movies. What guy doesn't? However, at $8 a ticket, I can't exactly afford to run out and see the latest films on the day they are released. That does not mean I don't see them.

I'm lucky enough to live in a city which has not one, but TWO so-called "second run" theaters. These are theaters that charge a dollar...yep, just one dollar...to go and see a movie. Mind you, these are movies that have been out for a few weeks, but if you don't mind seeing "Live Free or Die Hard" or "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" six to eight weeks after it first came out in the theaters, the savings are huge.

Yesterday, I got off work early, which doesn't happen often, so my wife suggested we go see a matinée. Great! So, we went to our usual dollar theater and then realized that it was Tuesday. Tuesdays are "50 cent Tuesdays" at this particular theater, so it cost a grand total of one dollar for admission for both of us. Total savings over the regular dollar theater price: one dollar. Total savings of seeing "Blades of Glory" at the dollar theater rather than at a "first run" theater: $15.

Theaters really make their money at the concession stand, rather than on the price of admission. In fact, approximately 70 to 90 percent of the ticket price at a movie theater goes directly to the movie studios. That explains why the cost of popcorn, soda and candy is so much higher at a movie theater than anywhere else. That's how they make their money and stay in business. However, some deals can still be found at the concession stand. Some theaters offer loyalty programs which give you discounts if you buy a special t-shirt, cup or sign up for a card. Show these items at the concession stand and you can save a few bucks. Some concession stands also offer package deals, kind of like the combo deals you find at fast food restaurants. My wife and I had just eaten lunch before we went to the movies yesterday, so we didn't get any concession stand items, but there are times that I do. Most theaters around here will give free refills if you purchase the large or mega-sized tub. The price difference between the large size and the small or medium is usually only a couple of dollars, but with the mega size you get re-fills, so you get much more popcorn for a little extra cost.

What's that you say? You don't want to fight the lines at the theater or listen to some idiot behind you talk all the way through the movie? No problem. There are other options.

You may be one of the lucky Americans who still happens to live near a drive-in theater. In my area, around Oklahoma City, there are still THREE drive-ins from which to choose. My favorite is the Winchester, right in Oklahoma City. For about 5 dollars per adult, you can see not one, but THREE first-run movies. That's right, a triple feature, for five bucks! If there is a better movie deal out there for a first-run movie I'm not aware of it. My family goes to the drive-in at least a couple of times each summer, and we manage to see most of the major theater releases from the comfort of our own car. The kids usually lie on a blanket next to the car with their pillows. They say it's just as comfortable as watching movies at home, but watching the movies under the stars is even better.

Another budget buster is DVD rentals. I used to have a membership at Blockbuster, back when they had late fees. But the fees, and the increasing cost of the rentals, eventually started costing more money than going to a first-run theater. I canceled my membership at Blockbuster and started going to the public library instead.

That's right, the public library. Many public libraries carry DVDs and other videos, and they aren't just educational films and documentaries. At our public library, if there is a movie you really want to see but the library doesn't stock it, you can request it and if there is enough demand for the movie (in the case of the popular movies, there always is) they will go and buy it and loan it out to you. Total cost to you: free! Savings: About $3 to $5 per movie.

So go ahead, enjoy those summer movies. Just because you are on a budget doesn't mean you can't enjoy a big budget film.

Owning a pet can be expensive, especially when it comes to their veterinary care. My beloved cat, Sara, died last year after she was diagnosed with cancer, but not before I broke the bank by spending about $600 on tests and medications to make her comfortable. In the end, there wasn’t much I could do for her. When she passed away, I cried as though I had lost my mother.

One thing I learned from the whole experience is that there are ways of saving money on your pet’s health care. Some veterinarians take the “here’s how much it will cost to treat your pet” mentality, and then let you decide whether you are going to spend the cash to keep you pet healthy, or in some cases, alive. If you can find a vet that will give you several treatment options, keep them. They are worth their weight in gold.

The veterinarian treating Sara was truly a saint. He took her home at night so he could keep an eye on her progress, and he suggested many different tests and treatment options, and didn’t even charge me for some of them. He even sent some of her lab work to the local veterinary college, where students and instructors did the tests for free. I’m lucky enough to live in an area that actually has a veterinary college, and if you have one in your area, definitely check and see if they will treat, vaccinate or run tests on your animals. Their students need the experience, and many times you can get this done for free or at low cost.

Now I have a new cat, Charlie, as well as two dogs: an 11-year-old Border Terrier named Winston, and a Jack Russell Terrier named Lucy. Total cost of my pets: $0. That’s right, they were all free, even though my dogs are pure bred animals. Winston came with an apartment my family moved into 11 years ago. The previous renters were moving to an apartment that didn’t allow pets, and they had to find him a new home or take him to the pound. We took him in and he’s been a great pet. Charlie was a stray that wandered into our yard shortly after Sara died, and he wouldn’t leave, so we kept him. Lucy was part of a litter of puppies that the owner didn’t want and didn’t have papers for, so she was just given to us.

However, we have been experiencing an abnormal rainy season here in Oklahoma this summer, and the flea infestation of my back yard has been unbelievable. All three of my animals use the back yard, so every time they come back into the house they are covered in fleas. Now, I don’t know if you have priced flea repellent lately, but it is quite expensive. Luckily, there are several dollar stores near my home.

I had to run out today and find some flea repellent and kitty litter. I went to the two major pet store chains first, PetSmart and PetCo. Depending upon the brand, flea repellent was going to cost me about $70 to $80 for the two dogs, plus another $20 to $40 for the cat. The kitty litter was also about $5 to $10. I was looking at potentially spending about $130 for my pets’ supplies today, money I definitely don’t have or want to spend.

So I went to the nearest dollar store, just across the street from PetCo. There, I found flea treatment for the dogs with the same active ingredients as many of the brands I found at the pet store, a flea collar for the cat, and an 8 pound bag of kitty litter. I even picked up a package of dog biscuits. Total cost: $5.46. Total savings: about $125. Not bad for spending an extra 10 minutes shopping around.

The pet stores also had a number of different chemicals to get rid of the fleas in the home. These ranged from $10 to $30. Luckily, I am a big fan of books about using “home remedies” and items you find around your home to solve cleaning and pest problems around the home. I had read that spreading ordinary table salt on carpeting will help kill off the fleas and dry up their eggs and larvae that may be in the carpet. I’m going to give that a try tonight. My wife picked up about 5 large containers of generic table salt for about 50 cents each. Total cost: $2.50. Total savings: about $27.50. So, today alone we have saved about $150 on our pets’ needs and pest control. Without having to spend so much money on their care today, they truly are my “best friends”.

Frugal. The word itself conjures images of people living on ramen noodles and living in a one-room studio apartment. But that isn’t necessarily so. With rising gasoline prices leading to increases in the cost of necessities such as food and clothing, it probably isn’t a bad idea for each of us to watch our expenses a bit.

I am frugal out of necessity. I’m a 42-year-old man living in a one-income household. My wife is disabled and isn’t able to work, so I’m the one who brings home the bacon, and lately that bacon isn’t going as far as it used to. We have two kids and you know it takes money to raise them. We currently have no health insurance and the cost of prescription drugs and doctors is seriously eating away at my take-home pay. A lot of people would probably throw up their hand and say “Screw it. I’ll just live on welfare.” I have two problems with that scenario. One, I believe welfare is for people a lot worse off than my family. Two, I make too much money to qualify for any state assistance whatsoever. We are on our own.

A lot of people are in this situation, so I don’t feel sorry for us. There are times that I don’t know how I’m going to pay basic expenses like rent, or groceries, or prescription medications. But we always do. How? By being savvy about frugality, and stretching our take-home dollars to the limit.

Being frugal isn’t the same as being “cheap”. Those who are cheap are that way because they choose to be. Those who are frugal are usually that way out of necessity.

I have read the Bible of all books on frugal living: The Tightwad Gazette. While it contains many good ideas about saving money around the house and living on one income, it also has suggestions which I think go a little off the deep end. The one that keeps coming to my mind is making a volleyball net out of old plastic six-pack soda can rings. I would prefer to buy an actual volleyball net at a garage sale or flea market for two dollars. There’s frugality, and then there’s savvy frugality.

Forced frugality has led my family to be creative about money…how we make it, how we spend it, and how we save it. These are the ideas that I will be sharing in Savvy Frugality. If you know of a better way of saving money than I chronicle here in this blog, please leave a comment and share your ideas as well. Let’s help one another live a life of Savvy Frugality!

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