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There are all kinds of ideas on this forum of how to save money, yet in reality most of us still live a fairly comfortable lifestyle. I wondered if anyone here personally knows someone who actually lives an extremely frugal lifestyle. For example, the only person I know who lives real cheap is an old lady in our church. Her monthly income is only about $1100 a month, and from that she buys food, medical care she needs, gasoline for her car, heat, lights etc. insurance, and property taxes. She lives in a small town in rural Texas, so even there, her property taxes aren't much.
But other than her, I don't know anyone who is extremely frugal, like biking to work. I do know one couple that lives in a mobile home on his parents land, so their lifestyle is pretty cheap, but she's driving a newer can and they have smart phones, and cable, so you could hardly say they are extremely frugal.
Yes. I know someone whose bed is in an area just off of someone's kitchen. No car, etc. It's not like this person is saving a lot of money, although she has miraculously earned enough to save $1500, which is a miracle for her. She's got major confidence issues and a poverty mindset to overcome....I believe she's got major issues that go back to childhood.
When I think of extreme frugality, for some reason I think of it as someone who has a choice in being frugal. In other words, they don't have to be frugal, but choose to be frugal and are hoarding their money. People who lived through the Great Depression are often like this. People who are millionaires, but keep darning the same old pair of socks and save their plastic bags to re-use, etc.
I worked for a guy like that. He owns several large apartment buildings around the SF Bay Area, and he's worn the same work clothes - including sneakers that are duct taped together - for years. He's hoarding all the money - that his kids will gleefully spend LOL.
But, if you just want to talk about people who survive on a small amount of money - my income is $890/month and I pay rent of $200 in a low-income senior building, and I also have a car and insurance and high speed internet, etc., and even after buying food and gas, cell phone, etc., I have about $300/month disposable income. Right now I'm spending most of that fixing up my "new" 93 Nissan pickup :-)
You just get used to not going out to eat, etc., and doing cheap or free stuff for entertainment. You buy inexpensive but reliable cars with cash (no car payments). I also live in thrift store tee shirts and jeans. And I don't have any wealthy friends, so there's no pressure to keep up with the Joneses. It's actually not that hard. And I buy new shoes when I need them (no duct tape for me) and I don't re-use my plastic bags either. I just don't spend much money.
I reuse large plastic bags, it takes very little effort to make it reusable, and it's good for the environment. I used to read frugal forum for kicks but it did became very useful after the dot come burst. I still practice some of the habits I picked up from that time and why not. Just because you have money doesn't mean you should throw it away. Have you read the millionaire next door. Well after reading that book, I go do survey and pocket $200 for about 2 hours. Why? it's tax free and where else can you spend 2-hour and get paid $100/hour.
The old lady at church sounds like a lot of people I know from her generation. For many people 75+ (any many 50+) yrs old, if they never got into tech, not having internet/cell/cable is no big deal. The only tech my grandparents had was a tube TV with rabbit ears, a home phone and a FILM camera (expensive one at the time) that was probably bought in the 70s. They always had one car because she never drove - usually bought new and kept 15+ years. There was also a small garden in the backyard despite living on maybe 0.15 acre in the city.
You can live amazingly cheap in many parts of the country...and not out in the sticks like some may think.
I have/had family like that. My grandfather and grandmother lived like a bunch of hoarding hillbillies. My grandfather had at least seven buildings full of stuff when he died because he bought stuff and never threw it away. He owned over 50 acres of land in various places. It wasn't expensive land, but he bought it and held on to it. He had never ending garage sales in the summer. He'd go to the thrift stores and auctions during the week and then sell it in his garage sales. He had something like 200-300 tomato plants in his garden that last year. He'd bag them up and sell them and other veggies. He got on a kick where he bought bicycles and fixed them up and resold them. A lot of this was just looking for something to do in retirement. He made money at it too. He was also a charitable guy in that he tried to help others. He gave away a lot of his vegetables and bikes to people he didn't think could afford them. My grandparents house was hand built by them and their kids. It was heated with a wood stove.
My grandmother canned a lot of the food they ate. She baked. Their clothes came from the thrift stores and were often outdated. My grandmother and grandfather had their kids cut their hair. My aunts gave my grandma perms. My grandfather had a 4th grade education and my grandmother completed the 8th grade. They made the most of the their talents and worked hard. Observing them, you'd think they were really poor. They weren't. They could have had a higher lifestyle, but that was not important to them.
I know several who live very very frugal on small incomes. They are mostly home bodies and do not have any real frills of life. Otherwise sadly most family and friends are quite the opposite. They call us cheap and such, which is fine. We just choose to save and work towards goals instead of buying latest gadgets. We are trying to get more and more frugal. I have been on a no clothing ban and gave up salons. Im cutting my hair at home and if I choose to ever color it, it will be at home. We do not have cable, netflix or internet. We use free wifi only and rent movies from the library. We dont live in a shack though, next year our house will be paid off an we will have 0 debt. We still go out but usually have gift cards (thanks to rewards program). We need to cut out dining out, which is the hardest for us to do.
You just get used to not going out to eat, etc., and doing cheap or free stuff for entertainment. You buy inexpensive but reliable cars with cash (no car payments). I also live in thrift store tee shirts and jeans. And I don't have any wealthy friends, so there's no pressure to keep up with the Joneses. It's actually not that hard. And I buy new shoes when I need them (no duct tape for me) and I don't re-use my plastic bags either. I just don't spend much money.
^^This is the bottom line.
If you engineer your life in a few important ways, you will effortlessly spend a lot less money:
--Keep rent/mortgage and heating/cooling costs low by living in a smaller space.
--Live in a walkable, transit friendly area where you can give up your car or at least reduce dependence on it. The less dependence, the better.
--Eat a plant based diet and cook at home.
--Skip the cable tv and other mass produced entertainment--or at least get it for free from the library. Generally speaking, people who achieve financial independence at early ages don't watch much TV or movies compared to the populace at large.
--Avoid having kids out of wedlock and divorce like the plague. Ideally, don't have kids until one parent can afford to stay home full time.
Last edited by mysticaltyger; 11-14-2015 at 11:31 PM..
Many people would think I have (just established) that.
Once I get the chimney and some trim/finish work in my 2k sqft house will break $50k ( but not $55)
I have no utility bills beyond my cell and a little propane. (Offgrid)
Property taxes are $16/month.
I'm about to pick up 1/2 a cow ($3.69/lb)
Etc etc.
But I know someone who just sold the 700 sqft cabin (offgrid) he was living in (to pay off debt from divorce) and is starting over he is building a 16x16 cabin under a larger roof, and through scrounging, buying direct from the sawmill, and a little horse trading he's going to do it (all the work himself, I'll help a little) for about $4k.
He bought the 21 acres for $10k BTW.
He is designing the new cabin on a friend of his I know a little.
Hers is 16x16 with a partial loft snd a porch fir her and her son.
She grows a garden (we all do, but I'm learning) they gather ginseng (major income) gather and trade/sell at farmers markets.
I think she has 1 solar pannel, "running water" from a spring, and an outhouse. (16 acres she was given on the condition she take care of the land, never cut the trees etc.)
I SERIOUSLY DOUBT she spends $500/month.
To them, me with my large bathroom, big house, with a 4x4 shower and big tub (so I can stretch out) newer truck (2000) eating in town 1x a week etc don't live frugal at all.
All about perspective.
I "spend" about $1,600/month. Allocate about $2,300 when we count savings for future cares, computers, freezers, tires, etc.
I think I can get the $1,600 down to $1k/month without sacrificing quality of life.
I'm not trying to deny myself however. I like good chocolate, steak, etc.
........ most of us still live a fairly comfortable lifestyle. ......
Yes, that is right. And the reason I live a comfortable life is because I am frugal. I don't have any rent or mortgage because I bought a house and paid it off. My family eats extremely well for a lot less than most families would pay for the same diet. There are no car payments. There are no credit card payments. That's the result of being careful with money.
I've got some lower priced rentals so I see a lot of people with poor spending habits.
I also see a lot of the elderly who are trying to live on social security. $600 a month SS payment and they are trying to rent a $1000 a month house. They insist that they can make it work somehow. That's not frugal, that's delusional. It's also the result of a life of poor money management. It would be very difficult to live on the pittance that SS pays to minimum wage workers.
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