If you recall, I joined a few fellow bloggers in a challenge to buy nothing new this year. January was a relatively frugal month. Other than a semi-expensive, organic non-toxic mattress and bed, we didn’t spend much on anything. And then February came along. So how did we do in February? Short answer is: definitely not as frugal.
I signed a purchase agreement of $56,000. And my wife and I spent another $1200 on other things.
Don’t bother checking your eyes. You read that correctly. I know what you’re thinking. My PhD. in frugality should be revoked. How dare I call myself Dr. McFrugal! But before you call me out for not living up to my name, let me explain.
Simply put, we purchased a new car and a few big ticket items that we really wanted.
Ready to order
On the last day of February I received the following email…
Upon opening the email, I was totally stoked. Almost a year ago, I placed an online deposit for the Tesla Model 3 on the very first day I could. I remember it quite well because it was March 31, 2016, which is my sister’s birthday. On that day, my wife and I were on vacation in Chicago to attend her coworker’s wedding.
At a base price of $35,000, the Model 3 is billed as one of the first fully electric cars that had a decent range and at an affordable price. Several of my colleagues at work had a Tesla Model S and they loved it. They raved about the speed, beautiful aesthetics, the environmental impact of zero emissions, and the cost savings of not having to fuel up on gasoline. It was just too darn expensive. At $74,500 or more, the cost of the car was way beyond what I would consider affordable. Because the purchase price of the Model S is significantly more than 10% of our combined gross income, I determined we really couldn’t afford it. But the Model 3 was within our affordability range, and that’s why I placed a deposit for a reservation.
Designing our car
Periodically, I would check the delivery estimator on my Tesla account. At first, it said Fall 2017. Then November 2017 to February 2018. And finally it was pushed even further to February 2018 to April 2018. Tesla Motors had several production delays that kept on pushing my delivery date further and further. At this rate, I was expecting my car to be ready in 2019!
We weren’t necessarily in a hurry to get a new car. But our current cars are aged and showing a lot of signs of wear and tear. Remember, my car is more than 17 years old and has a few maintenance issues. And my wife’s car is about 13 years old and has a bullet hole on the side.
After almost two years of anticipation, we were ready to design our car.
The battery
The first decision was whether to upgrade the battery. The standard battery has an estimated range of 220 miles. And for $9,000 more, the long range battery has an estimated range of 310 miles. We decided to upgrade to the long range battery for a few reasons.
First of all, I consider the extra 90 miles of range worth the premium price because the long range is what makes the Model 3 attractive in the first place. If I didn’t care about range as much, I could have easily bought a cheaper car like the Nissan Leaf (which has battery range of 151 miles). Plus the battery is generally the most expensive component of an electric car; therefore it warrants the hefty price.
Additionally, cars with the long range battery are immediately available. If I wanted a car with the standard battery, I would have to wait until late 2018, or maybe even later. Who knows how much longer production will be delayed. By ordering a car with the long range battery now, I guarantee eligibility for the $7,500 federal tax credit before it gets phased out. If I wanted to wait for the standard battery, there’s no guarantee I would be eligible for the tax credit. I’d be rolling the dice.
Premium upgrades
We thought this was a no-brainer and worth the extra $5,000. This upgrade includes:
- Premium heated seating and cabin materials throughout, including open pore wood decor and two rear USBs
- 12-way power adjustable front seats, steering column and side mirrors, with custom driver profiles
- Premium audio system with more power, tweeters, surround speakers and subwoofer
- Tinted glass roof with ultraviolet and infrared protection
- Auto dimming, power folding, heated side mirrors
- LED fog lamps
- Center console with covered storage and docking for two smartphones
Enhanced autopilot
We decided to go with this upgrade because my wife and I experienced this feature in person and thought it was totally cool. With enhanced autopilot, the car can match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes without requiring driver input, transition from one freeway to another, and exit the free way when your destination is near.
One of my wife’s friends has a 90 minute commute to work. During his commute, he watches movies while his car is on enhanced autopilot driving on the freeway!
Personally, I don’t think I would feel comfortable watching movies while I’m “driving”. Especially since my commute is only 20 minutes. But I could find myself doing other things such as listening to podcasts or audiobooks. Who knows, maybe you’ll see me doing work or watching movies while driving in a few months!
Full self-driving capability
This sounds totally awesome because you can pretty much get in your car and tell it where to go without doing anything. However, we decided not to pay for this feature. Mostly because it isn’t currently available and it is dependent on regulatory approval. Plus i can always upgrade in the future.
Other features
We were torn between deep blue metallic pain and pearl white. In the end, I chose blue. I was also fine with not upgrading the wheels and keeping the standard 18 inch Aero wheels.
Final vehicle configuration
What else did we buy?
We also bought organic, non-toxic bedding, sheets, pillows, pillow cases, and a comforter with duvet cover. We needed all of this new bedding to go with our new mattress and king bed. It totaled to be about $1200.
I know the bedding was an expensive purchase, but it’s definitely worth it. Because we try to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, we are spending a third of our life in bed. Time spent getting restful, high quality sleep is time well spent. And because good sleep is an important factor for our health, happiness, and productivity, having excellent bedding that allows us to sleep well is a great investment.
When we welcome our new baby girl, we (mostly my wife) will spend even more time in bed. We plan to have our baby sleep with us, which is one of the reasons why we wanted the extra space of a king bed.
Fortunately, we haven’t had to buy many things for the baby. We are receiving a lot of things secondhand from other people. And for items we haven’t be able to obtain secondhand, we have been receiving gifts through our Amazon baby registry. One of these gifts that arrived late February was the Snuggle Me Organic baby lounger. It was gifted to us by my best friend and it is made with 100% organic cotton and other GOTS certified organic materials.
It will help us sleep well at night knowing that our baby is sleeping in an environment void of toxic chemicals that can potentially have a negative impact on her developing brain.
What about food?
I know this site is not meant to be a food blog. BUT, I do love food. And I do like posting pictures of my food. Last month, I included a food section on my monthly “buy nothing”update and it was wildly popular.
My inclusion of a food section has two purposes. First and foremost, I want to show people that vegan food can be beautiful, inexpensive, healthy, and delicious. Not only is eating vegan a more virtuous way of living from an ethical standpoint, it can also be a healthier and more environmentally friendly way of eating. Personally, I eat a healthy whole foods, plant-based, Blue Zone style, vegan diet.
My secondary purpose is to show people that it is possible to eat amazingly well on a food budget of $500 (or less) without even trying. And yes, we stayed within budget in February as well.
According to the USDA, the average cost to feed a family of four is $1200 per month. To me, this is too much money to spend on food. Especially since I’m sure a big portion of this food budget is spent on crappy restaurant food or processed food-like substances that isn’t even real food. A lot of money can be saved by preparing wholesome meals with real food cooked at home. Not only is it better for your wallet, it’s way better for your health.
Okay, enough ranting. I know you all want to see pictures of food. Just beware. Viewing my food pictures (especially on an empty stomach) has been known to cause severe cases of hunger and watering of the mouth.
We did go out to eat more
Since our baby is due in late March, many of our friends have been encouraging us to go out and do more things. They say we won’t be able go out as much when the baby arrives. I totally believe them.
So we did go out to eat a little bit more. In January, we went out to eat only three times. In February, we went out to eat eight times. We primarily ate at our favorite restaurants, which are not expensive at all. We typically spend about $20-25 for the both of us each time we eat out.
One day we spent $25 on vegan ramen for two.
On another occasion we had this beautiful dish. It is a unique combination of Thai seasonings with tofu, peas and carrots, served on glen-free crispy flower cups.
Cheap eats at home
While we typically spend $20-25 dollars for the two of us when we go out, our food expenses go way down when we eat at home. In many cases, it may only cost us $1-5.
A prime example of a frugal home-cooked meal is rice and beans. Pictured below is a delicious home-cooked dish of gigantic Greek beans in seasoned tomato sauce, topped with hemp seeds (high in protein) and nutritional yeast (good source of protein and vitamin B12).
It only costed us about $2 for the two of us. And it included healthy whole grains, legumes, and vegetables which are important staples of the Blue Zone diets.
Food as fuel
On weekend mornings, I typically work out and lift heavy weights at the gym. When I return home, I make a nutritious meal to refuel my body. In addition to blogging, one of my other personal goals this year is to be a body builder.
Below is an example of my post-workout meal. And just so you know, everything is organic. Pictured below:
- Banana, pineapple, turmeric, cinnamon smoothie blended with maca root powder, amla powder, vegan plant-based protein powder and homemade almond milk. Loaded with antioxidants with tons of anti-inflammatory properties to repair my body after a strenuous weight lifting session.
- Chia seed pudding topped with apples, cinnamon, and even more chia seeds. Healthy fats!
- Brazil nuts. High in selenium, which is an antioxidant and natural testosterone booster.
- Edamame. Clean source of plant protein. Great for muscle repair and growth.
- Oatmeal with banana, cherries, and blueberries (more antioxidants!). I bought frozen organic blueberries and cherries in bulk at Costco.
Clean, healthy, and nutritious. No carcinogenic processed meat (bacon) or fattening, insulin-spike inducing processed sugars (cereal). This is the breakfast of champions right here.
Final thoughts
Yes, we did spend a lot of money in February.
But if you look back at my original post, all of the items that we purchased this month (car, bed, and baby stuff) are the exact exemptions that I had outlined. I should get a pass.
Because the car and bedding are completely in alignment with our values, it was not a challenge to justify these purchases.
In many ways, the Tesla Model 3 is a microcosm of our current lifestyle. The interior is all vegan. Zero emissions equates to being environmentally friendly. The electrical engine is a clean alternative to the internal-combustion engine. And the overall design is minimalist. On top of that, the price is affordable to us, which makes it a financially wise and frugal choice.
My car will be delivered in two to five weeks and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin. Stay tuned…
While not a particularly frugal month, it sounds like it was a blast. Congrats on the car purchase. I’m hoping autonomous driving is perfected by the time my kids drive and Tesla seems to be on the cutting edge, so maybe a Tesla’s in my future as well, distant, distant future.
Thanks for stopping by MSF! Oh, I’m sure autonomous driving will be perfected by the time your kids drive.
My wife and I often talk about how scary-fast technology is advancing. Self-driving cars and trucks seem to be the future (bye bye FedEx and UPS). And the American workforce will no longer have to worry about foreign outsourcing because it seems likely that artificial intelligence and robotics will replace a lot of workers.
I do wonder (and have some fear of) what kind of world our children will be living in. I guess all we can really do is be grateful and live in the present 🙂
Awesome, Dr. McFrugal! I look forward to seeing pictures of it. By the way, where will you pick it up? I know the “dealerships” are usually in the malls, so do you get it there too?
P.S. The lavender adds a nice touch!
Thanks for the compliment on the lavender. Trying my best at food photographer 😉
I’m not sure where I would pick the Tesla up. I’m guessing somewhere near the Tesla service center in Miramar, but I’m sure they will give me full details in an email when it’s ready. Definitely posting some pictures of it when it comes!
So not gonna lie, hating you just a teensy bit… you’re essentially living my dream! Hubs and myself want a Tesla so bad it hurts… but we cannot justify that $56K expense. That’s basically a year’s salary! (Without factoring taxes in, too).
I’m also trying real hard to get him on the WFPB way of eating, and it is a STRUGGLE for a Texan bred boy with a 6’6″ appetite. That whole morning meal sounds divine. You’ve read “How Not To Die” huh? Admit it. 😉
Hi Budget Epicurean! Yes, Teslas are so expensive. I’m lucky to have a job that allows me to afford it. Maybe in a year or two, used Teslas won’t be so pricey. And maybe electric cars in general will be less expensive.
Thanks for the kind words regarding my morning meal. I have been following your page for a while and you inspired me to incorporate more food pics on my blog. Yes, I did read “How Not to Die”. Dr. Greger is amazing and I think the WFPB way of eating is definitely optimal for health and longevity. At 6’6″ I can see how it can be tough for your husband to do it. He’ll have to eat massive amounts of sweet potatoes, whole grains, and beans to stay full! There are a good number of big guys that do it too, like David Carter (The 300 pound vegan) and John Salley (NBA player). But if he can do WFPB some (or most) of the time, I would consider that a win 😀
Indeed, we have all appendages crossed that Tesla’s are a HUGE hit and make all car manufacturers keep up, thus driving prices down… a girl can dream right? I’d be totally down with trading in my 2004 Civic for a 3-yr-old Tesla in 2020!
Wow What a compliment! I’m honored you read my blog, It’s the only legitimate reason to justify obsessively photographing my food 🙂 I do send him stories of vegan athetes all the time. We are at about 80% vegetarian by now, so we’re getting there.
Yay! 80% is definitely better than nothing. We have been exclusively WFPB for 2.5 years and can’t imagine going back. Prior to that, I was a paleo-vegetarian / flexitarian and couldn’t imagine myself eating a WFPB vegan diet. Then one day my wife wanted to do a 30 day plant-based challenge… we did it, felt great, and never looked back 🙂
I haven’t paid too much attention to electric cars, but recently found myself swooning over the new electric throwback VW bus. It looks awesome… And made me consider if I should start saving up!
I feel a bit guilty and confused every time I see a vegetarian or vegan now as this fall we shifted from 15 yrs on my part and 20+ on husbands part of vegetarian/vegan to a meat heavy “keto-ish” (low carb). We were veg mainly for ethical reasons and health was secondary… More on that on a future blog post. Strangely I still identify as a vegetarian though I’m clearly not anymore.
I haven’t checked out the throwback VW bus. Maybe I should!
Don’t feel guilty, I really try not to be judgmental. But I am curious to know why you made a complete 180 and switched to a low carb keto diet. It’s especially surprising coming from a former ethical vegetarian.