FOOD
No Waste: If you have ever eaten with an Asian you know they eat all the parts of an animal, including the feet. While I'm not up to eating chicken feet, I think I can do better about using up all our food before it goes bad.
From Scratch: By scratch I don't mean just putting in one can of chicken stock, one can of diced tomatoes, one can of beans, one tortilla, etc. Many immigrants make the chicken stock, dice their own tomatoes, cook the dried beans, and make their tortillas by hand. This definitely saves money and happens to be a lot healthier too. I'm not sure I have the time or energy to do all of that, but I have found that I have saved a lot of money by simply making my own bread. I think my biggest weakness in the area of prepared foods is cold cereal. Mostly because I'm not a morning person and I hate to have to wake up and make breakfast. One thing I've done to help with this is to make baked oatmeal or waffles during the day and then I just have to heat it up in the morning.
Rarely Eat Out (unless it is at the family restaurant): Jared and I are pretty good with this one. When he took me out for our 7th anniversary we thought back on the number of times he has taken me out to eat--lets just say we didn't run out of fingers to count on.
Eat Very Little Meat: Many Indian immigrants are vegetarian and don't eat meat at all. Jared and I are pretty good with this one as well--probably because of my once having been a vegetarian. We like chicken and fish, but we try to get our protein from other healthy and less expensive sources such as beans, eggs, cheese, nuts, and my personal favorite--peanut butter.
Eat Less Food Slower: Yes I must admit that little Asians need a lot less food than some of us who are great in stature, but I know that I, along with many other overweight Americans, could stand to eat a little less.
Grow Their Own Food: My missionary companions and I could often tell an Asian household just by looking at the peppers and other edible plants growing either outside their door, on their balcony, or in the living room. Jared and I started a garden for the first time this year and it has already saved us a lot of money (not to mention the fresh vegetables and herbs are delicious).
Very Few Sweets: Most immigrants either find them disgustingly sweet or consider them luxury foods to eat only for special occasions.
HOUSING
You know what I mean right? Three generations, two cousins, and three second cousins all living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Although Jared and I have lived with each set of our parents for short periods of time, it's not really something we want to do on a permanent basis. However I think we often feel like we need more space than we actually do. I look at the small home my grandparents raised their 9 children in and I realize I have no right to complain that I don't have room for a spa, home gym, and my own art studio. On the topic of living with family, I'm a big fan of houses with basement apartments. If we ever build our own house, I'm definitely putting one in. My parents' basement apartment has been used at one time by almost all of their married kids as they were first starting out. I think it is great because it gives you some independence and your own space while still giving you a financial head start.
BUY USED
Head to Goodwill and you will most likely meet several immigrants. I still prefer to buy most of my clothes new, however, for children's clothes it seems like such a waste since they out grow them so quickly. We haven't done a lot of garage sale shopping, however, we have found some good deals on Craigslist. I got my double stroller that was going to cost me $182 new for only $50 from Craigslist.
DON'T DRIVE
Okay, so some immigrants have the really nice souped up cars, however most of the immigrants I met of my mission didn't even drive. This was extremely frustrating when it came to getting them rides to church, however they did save a lot of money this way. Public transportation, biking, or walking didn't seem to bother them as much as it does us. Jared and I have decided to be a one car family and I have to admit that it gets really hard sometimes. That said, we figure it saves us at least $100 a month in auto insurance, gas, and car maintenance--not to mention the cost of another carpayment.
USE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
I remember talking to a Russian foreign exchange student that told me how funny she thought it was that our government was spending several thousand dollars to send her to the U.S. to have this experience while it was billions of dollars in debt. This made me think that if immigrants are taking advantage of our government's "generosity," then maybe we should too. I'm not saying we should all get on welfare, but we should take advantage of public goods that our government provides with the money they take from us in taxes. Jared and I have saved a lot of money by getting books, music and movies from the library. We also try to look for free community events and programs. I take the kids to story time once a week and the majority of parents there are Korean immigrants that don't even speak English, but they are taking advantage of this free program to help their kids. Check out the park, free museums, nature centers, parent resource centers, etc.
DEFER GRATIFICATION
Many highly educated immigrants from India come here and work really hard for 5 years and save every penny because they know it means that they can go back home to India and live like kings for the rest of their lives. In addition many immigrants who stay in this country are able to save a lot to send back to their country or to provide a better life for their children here. (By the way, the third largest source of money coming into Mexico is from U.S. immigrants sending money back home to their families.) These immigrants are able to defer gratification over a significant period of time. This is a goal that requires constant motivation. Dave Ramsey puts it like this, "Live like nobody else now, so later you can live like no body else." So Jared and I are recommitting ourselves to pay off student loans and get out of debt. It is hard because after having been poor for so long we just want to give into the natural man and indulge, however, we need to take a lesson from these immigrants and defer our gratification.
NO WASTE
I've met many immigrants that are great at following the motto: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." I still remember watching my mission companion from Cambodia sewing tiny little stitches in a pair of her tights that had gotten a hole. I'm afraid I would have just thrown the tights away. I'm not advocating collecting a lot of junk, but it may be helpful to ask yourself if you can fix something up or reuse it before you decide to throw it out. For example, we were able to reuse a wooden container that one of the girls' toys came in as a perfect box for storing fragile Christmas ornaments.
FAMILY
Have you ever noticed how tight many immigrant families are? And I don't just mean immediate family, I mean the whole extended clan. Immigrant families are often very loyal to each other. The members are able to draw on the family resources and connections for help. Many immigrants even have a family business (nail salon, restaurant, gas station, etc.) which they use to employ family members, including young teenagers, in need of a job or work experience. When they need a loan to buy a house, immigrants often don't go to the bank, they go to the family network and they are given money. They in turn are expected to help out other family members when they are able. Extended families often rely on each other for child care, transportation, and housing. This is an area in which Jared and I feel very blessed since we both have wonderful, supportive families who have been very helpful and generous during our down times. We hope to one day be able to return the favor.
CHILDREN
Teach children to work: Many immigrant children didn't understand the concept of allowance. They had to work for everything they got. When they were old enough they were expected to get a job and contribute to the family.
Teach children the importance of education: Many immigrants recognize the importance of education in getting ahead financially. One immigrant shared how her parents were very tight in most areas but were willing to put forth time and money to encourage her to succeed in school because they knew that was one of the best investments they could make.
Teach children about money: Many immigrant children told how they were taught REAL math --how to budget, about interest rates, etc.
No Diapers or wipes: So I'm not ready for this, but I know my sister has saved a lot of money using cloth diapers. For potty-training Abby we found that using training pants with plastic covers is cheaper and works much better than pull ups.
Small Holidays: One immigrant child told how his parents would give him a nice small gift for each holiday and didn't go overboard like many American parents (myself included) tend to. I think it is easy to get carried away with holiday gifts, but in the long run the memories will matter more.
THEY WORK A LOT
Many immigrants work hard and have a great work ethic. It is not uncommon to find they have more than one job--basically if their job doesn't cut it, they will often get another job on the side.
STANDARD OF LIVING
I think this is probably the biggest reason that immigrants are able to save so much more than their American counterparts. I remember meeting a family who invited us into their apartment and offered us a seat on their rug. I thought they must have been FOB (fresh off the boat) because they had no furniture, but after talking with them I discovered that they had been here for 5 years. I don't know many Americans that would go that long without furniture. We are used to a certain standard of living so when we can't afford such things as furniture, internet, cable, a TV, etc. we feel justified in purchasing the item anyway. We lie to ourselves that we "deserve" it. One immigrant commented on how weird it was that many whom we consider "poor" in America have TVs and refrigerators.
Since we are raised at a certain standard of living, I don't really know how to change this standard--other than to move to a 3rd world country. I know that many missionaries come back from 3rd world countries and are just amazed at all the luxury and waste in our society. Even after serving in the U.S. among immigrants I came home and was overwhelmed by how nice my house was and how rich our family was in comparison to what I was used to. Without traveling to a 3rd world country I guess the next best thing to do would be to somehow change our mentality about what is truly a need. One rule of thumb from Mary Ellen Edmunds is that more than one of anything is not a need. So basically if you have one phone, a second one is a want and not a need. I'm not saying we shouldn't meet our wants, but that we need to change the way we justify some of our over expenditures by saying we "need" something when in reality we just really want it.
PRAISE FOR IMMIGRANTS
I just wanted to say thank you to all the wonderful immigrants to this country for what you bring to it. I love the rich cultural diversity and ideas that you bring to our society. I think that we Americans would do well to take a few lessons from you not only in finance but in hospitality, family unity, and generosity.
