Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I love being frugal. I'd rather not spend and tithe to my church. I have spent most of my life saving for retirement (freedom from the big hairy well you know) Being frugal offers future freedom from worry. I've seen the world - it's overrated. Travel is overrated, particularly in this time of full body scans and take that off would you! There's something utterly beautiful about going into the garden and dividing plants - wow I just got 10 new plants from 1 and then sharing them with someone you like. Spreading the wealth so to speak. So - yes I can imagine without a job it would feel more like a constraint so continue in a frugal life so that those times, which come for nearly all of us at some point, won't feel so difficult.
Lastly, people need to think of their purchases throughout the year. Everything you buy, think of it by the year, to put it in perspective, not by the day. Take your vice, and see how much it costs per year, cigs for example. $8 a pack, 3 packs a week. $1248 a year. You tell a smoker this and half the times you think they are going to pass out. Make coffee at home instead of $2 a cup at dunkin donuts, $730 a year. It makes living frugal make a lot more sense, a lot more common sense.
/endrant
Actually, you can take that a step further. That $1248 annual smoking habit, if invested in a boring, plain vanilla mutual fund like Vanguard Balanced Index (60% stocks 40% bonds) grows to:
$54,492 after 20 years
$127,617 after 30 years
I used 7% return assumptions. The fund has returned 7.07% over the past 15 years, which has not been a period of good market returns, especially for the stock portion.
Even that $748 per year on coffee leads to almost $75,000 after 30 years.
And I didn't even count the tax benefits if you designate it as an Individual Retirement Account!
Frugality has elements of "means to an end" and an "end in and of itself." First, I use frugality to acquire high quality or designer clothing and accessories at a fraction of their retail price. I see it as useful currently to "punch above my weight" financially, and as good training if/when I encounter hard times after leaving the nest.
Used, but mint condition $1600+ Canali 100% cashmere blazer for $45 from ebay?
Polo Ralph Lauren at $25-$30 per piece (polo, shorts, pants) from TJ Maxx? (normally $70+ from Lord and Taylor/Macy's etc etc)
Cole Haan leather sole and upper venetian loafers from Nordstrom rack for $80 instead of $200?
Used, but mint Burberry Prorsum suit from ebay for $100 instead of $2,000?
Sperry top siders clearanced for $40 on Amazon.com instead of $120?
To borrow a friend's term, "Hells to the Yes!"
I'm just a frugal prep. It requires more of an outlay than a thrift store wardrobe, but for $400-500, I've built a core wardrobe that will last as long as I do not pork up significantly. Thrift stores by me are few and far between, and as I am not a denim-T shirt-sneakers man, I've excluded more stuff than I can shake a stick at.
I enjoy the discount as much as I enjoy the items, but I make sure to ignore a color/fit that I won't wear. If I am not saving 50% + on an item, I will go elsewhere or wait for an end of season sale. The stuff I buy is not fashion forward and can be re-used season after season until the garment falls apart.
I'm not nearly as frugal as I'd liek to be, but I'm doing much better than I was many years ago. For the most part I have always been wise with money. I can remember going shopping with my cousin and she was charging stuff elft and right not worrying about how to pay it off. She would always ask me how I resisted and I told her because I knew I couldn't afford it.
Unfortunately there was a brief time I was not great with money and ran up a CC bill, but in my defense it was not on frivilous things, but things like gas and groceries (I was in a bad marriage with him stealing the money).
However, back to current times and while in no way do I have a lot saved up, I am very cautious about how I spend my money. When my time comes to retire, I don't want to have to worry. And when I have a comfortable amount in the bank, I would like to travel more.
I admit, I have always erred on the frugal side...
Now my bills are so high...
I, personally, don't know how anyone can justify it in this economy...but I'd be saving up for the future if I could. Thoughts?
What helped us a LOT--in fact, I'd say it saved our future--was "Financial Peace University" and the book by Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover. I got it from the library first, and liked it so much I went to half.com and bought the book.
We don't live paycheck-to-paychk any more! We paid off our car 8 months early. I can't believe how good it feels not to have a car payment! It makes me feel free.
Yes, we still live frugally, cuz we still have a mortgage & other stuff. Only my husband works, so I use both store coupons & manufacture's coupons, and I save them up to use for items that are on sale. (I love saving 50% & more!)
But now, I can also send money to my ailing mother; I stopped being scared about whether our utility bills were paid; we have an emergency fund!
Sorry to get a bit OT, but when I read your post, it reminded me of the 'me' I used to be. And although we still have some financial problems, SO much of the stress is gone. So I wanted to say,hang in there! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And if I can help at all by sending you over to the Dave Ramsey site, it's the reason why I started posting to you. I wish you all the best!
We're both really frugal people. My reasons are because when I was younger I was always broke because I worked at low income jobs. Now that I do well financially I appreciate the income but always view my current situation as one that could change any day. I'd say we're frugal basically because its a way to prepare.
We live in California which as everyone knows is prohibitively costly. We rent a fairly nice house but have lived in it for years and the rent is the same as it was 7-8 years ago. So rent it cheap. We someday want to move out of here and buy a house in another state. That means saving up cash so we can just buy the house outright and then have some leftover for retirement and other stuff. That has meant years of being ridiculously frugal. Here are a few examples:
I am still driving the truck I bought new in high school. 250,000+ miles later its still going strong. I do all of the repairs myself and have several shop manuals for it. That includes major stuff like changing the clutch, a valve job, and whatever else goes wrong with it. That saves a lot of money. Same goes for my Wife's car which is almost as old. I almost always buy aftermarket brand parts versus factory parts. They cost a lot less and so far they've held up just as well.
We buy all our clothes from Goodwill. If you know what to look for you can get some very nice clothes for about 90% off of what you'd pay retail. I have designer jeans that only cost $3.
Food comes from bulk discount grocery stores. We also grow a lot of vegetables in the back yard. We seldom eat out but if we do we split dishes since most servings are so big anyway.
All of the furniture we own came off the street. That doesn't mean its junk. Quite a bit of it is actually antique pieces. Some of them which are very nice indeed and would have cost a lot at an antique store. Most of the appliances came from yard sales and flea markets. I tend to buy older stuff- as in appliances that are from the 50's and 60's: They last forever and can be fixed if needed. In fact, anything that breaks down I try to fix myself.
While we're earning money we try and stuff as much as possible into retirement savings accounts. We're still young and doing so means more in retirement when we retire. I'm also saving cash for the house we will eventually buy.
I don't ever buy whatever new gadget is out there. An exception was a new laptop simply because I needed it for work. My older computer was going on 7 years old. I use only cell phones that come free every 2 years with my basic plan. Our TV is from the 80's and still works just fine. It too was found on the street.
The ironic thing is that if I really wanted to I could go out and buy a nice car, a flatscreen TV, a smart phone and probably even a down payment on a house here in Cali. But I am completely against financial risk and paying too much for things. Peace of mind and securing a financial future to me is a much more worthwhile endeavor.
What helped us a LOT--in fact, I'd say it saved our future--was "Financial Peace University" and the book by Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover. I got it from the library first, and liked it so much I went to half.com and bought the book.
We don't live paycheck-to-paychk any more! We paid off our car 8 months early. I can't believe how good it feels not to have a car payment! It makes me feel free.
Yes, we still live frugally, cuz we still have a mortgage & other stuff. Only my husband works, so I use both store coupons & manufacture's coupons, and I save them up to use for items that are on sale. (I love saving 50% & more!)
But now, I can also send money to my ailing mother; I stopped being scared about whether our utility bills were paid; we have an emergency fund!
Sorry to get a bit OT, but when I read your post, it reminded me of the 'me' I used to be. And although we still have some financial problems, SO much of the stress is gone. So I wanted to say,hang in there! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And if I can help at all by sending you over to the Dave Ramsey site, it's the reason why I started posting to you. I wish you all the best!
Star .....I know you can't DM....I will give you the websie addy because I don't think I am supposed to mention company names...
Go to orhp.com....that's the Home Warranty Company I used....
I think being frugal means that you can have anything you want - you just can't have everything you want.
So figure out what's important to you and what's just a waste of time and money.
Yep.....exactly my thought! Even Oprah, Bill Gates and the Sultan have limited resources. I've never owned a brand new car in my life but we've got a little beach shack that is nothing fancy but it was my dream come true.
I enjoy this forum so much because there truly is a network of folks living their dreams and not caving to societal pressures to have the right house, car, lifestyle. It's so interesting to read the posts of how people are creating the lives they have always imagined for themselves.
Mysti, I'm jumping on here late, but better late then never.
I've been frugal all my life, learning at a young age to do for myself as much as I can, and that has stuck with me. There is something so satisfying, even if you can afford it, to do your own gardening, for example. Or another example, it is so satisfying to clean your own home, even if you HATE cleaning bathrooms and even if you could afford a cleaning service. There is just something to it when you put your elbow to the test, when you get your hands dirty and get something accomplished, you walk away with a feeling of pride. Yeah! I did it!
I also have gotten into the habit of discipline, although when I was younger I shrugged that habit off and went hog wild for a while. That gets old after a while, and no matter how much "new" you get, it's never enough. So back to frugal I went and back to simple living.
Now when I do order a few things online, I appreciate those things for I have not only worked hard for them, but I have what I term "a thank you system to me" in place. When I work hard, spend only what is needed to be spent, achieved goals for a certain amount of time, I "splurge" by buying something nice for myself. And that something nice I know has been earned and I really appreciate it.
I put myself through college by frugal living, and of course student loans, but my goal was to pay off that loan within one year after I started working. I did it. There is a sense of pride when you do something like this, and boy, you just don't take things for granted.
I apply the principal of frugal living to all areas of my life. Our house is paid off in full and I am not "retirement age" age, and neither is my husband. We have driven the same vehicles for over 10 years, instead of jumping on the band wagon of keeping up with the Jones and getting a new car every 2-3 years. Our investments are growing nicely. We make our meals and rarely eat out. I had a severe back injury in 1993, leaving me not walking for 2 years, and due to my "frugal discipline" I got myself back to walking again. I can honestly say, we are totally out of debt, and in a time when our nation is sinking in debt, that is something to be "proud" of. All because we practice being frugal, working hard, and living simply.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
