So, frugal people, what DO you allow yourselves?

[Danny]

On Our trip to Italy, we seemed to spend alot of time buying gifts for the kids and a few things my wife always wanted like some Tuscan ceramics in Siena. I couldn't come up with anything I wanted no matter how much proding I got.

All I wanted was what I was doing, walking the streets, trying to stay awake in museums ( I would like to have use of a motorized reclining wheelchair in those ), looking for the next place to eat and drink, eating and drinking, talking with people, looking for and using the next toilette, admiring the people, the ancient buildings and streets and playing chicken with the millions of scooters driven by italians. The Milan taxi to the airport was breathtaking, even more so when I realized every other vehicle on the road was weaving and going over 100....But inspite of all the crazy driving I never saw an accident. So, I guess I was happy to get out of Italy with just my wife and my life.

 

[treypar]

We enjoy a good restaurant, and several vacations a year at nice places.

 

[Outtahere]

We eat out twice a week, take one vacation together and he takes a couple trips with the "boys" to some bike event. our vacation is to relatives so we stay for just grocery money. The trips with the boys are frugal with them all sharing expenses. Our biggest splurge is having the two bikes but we don't drink so we figure we've saved enough over the years to afford them. Cable internet and my cell phone are paid for by work but I'd have them anyway but probably switch to cheaper DSL if I left. We like the fact that we can have just about anything we want but don't feel the need to, just being able to is enough.

 

[haha]

I'll be the first taker on this one.

Occasional dining out at cheap restaurants (Sam's club pizza, $4 mexican place, etc) - usually use coupons, or free gift cards from credit card rewards program

-"gourmet food" from grocery store on occasion (crab cakes and seafood salad was most recent purchase)

-Vacations - haven't had one in a while due to the new addition to our family, but we're going on a cruise as soon as we can figure out the logistics

-cable, although we just cut back to the basic (first ~25 channels)

-decent, reliable cars (year 2000 Hondas)

-nice house, more than we need

-gifts for ourselves and others

-computer games (perhaps $10 per year on average) and functioning "late model" computers

I hope you are joking, but something tells me you are not.

Ha

 

[justin]

I hope you are joking, but something tells me you are not.

Not joking. I did my best to identify things that I spend money on, but that could be avoided, or done more cheaply. If we want to do something else, we'll do it. "Free" things that we enjoy doing didn't make the list. Spending time with family and friends. Watching the sun set over the lake in our back yard. Walking around our neighborhood to shops, the library, etc. Reading. Cooking good meals. And the list goes on.

You may find it hard to believe that one can be satisfied with relatively small levels of consumption. Some people are different.

 

[MasterBlaster]

The point of this thread put out by the OP is...

That to live well, or to 'live a little' as the OP puts it, one must spend gobs of money. The corollary, that not spending money, means that you don't live well .

I think this line of thinking is mostly false and the opposite may be true. The greater your quest for consumption, then (perhaps) the less satisfied with life you may be. Chasing those consumer items (whose want and need that are drilled into everyone by advertising) means that you get to work long hard hours to obtain them. The tradeoff with a quality life just may not be worth it.

Think about it, would you rather have that BMW (or whatever) and the long work hours that are required to obtain it. Or would you rather drive an older common car and take the afternoon(s) off to see your kid play soccer. This is but one example of the kind of choices we make. Is getting promoted a couple of levels really worth it ? Sure you get more money, you get more stuff, but you pay for it with your life.

The choice is yours.


People on this forum come at it from another aspect. Many of them have worked incredibly hard and saved incredibly hard for a decade or three to stockpile enough cash to see them through for the duration. Their goal is to drop out of the workforce on their own terms to pursue a better life.

 

[LOL!]

Think about it, would you rather have that BMW (or whatever) and the long work hours that are required to obtain it. Or would you rather drive an older common car and take the afternoon(s) off to see your kid play soccer.

I read the above and thought: Slacker!   You shouldn't have to make the choice.  You should drive your kid to soccer in the BMW.  And you shouldn't just be watching your kid play soccer, you should be coaching your kid and all the other kids. I mean, where is the commitment?

Live well, yet well below your means.

 

[FlowGirl]

My list is pretty short right now, although we don't feel the least bit deprived:

1. Travel - we have ample vacation time and no kids yet, so trying to take advantage of it while we can.

2. Bicycles - I finally bought a quality bike this year and its been worth every penny.  The husband has a high end triathlon bike which he likes tinkering with.  Just had an accident with it which involved upgrading replacing a bunch of parts.  His triathlon and marathon entry fees, plus travel to events are also damned expensive.

3.  Sushi once a week - we live in Japan so its hard to resist.

4. Single malt scotch

5.  Entertaining - we host people in some capacity every week and our friends (many of which are single Marines) eat and drink a lot.

A few other little things here and there but cars, clothes, and home electronics tend to get the short end of the paycheck... at least for now.

 

 

[MasterBlaster]

I read the above and thought: Slacker!   You shouldn't have to make the choice.  You should drive your kid to soccer in the BMW.

I think you missed the point entirely.  Sure you can be the type-A who drives yourself crazy trying to have it all. But unfortunately you'll likely miss alot along the way. The cost in terms of what you have to give up is way too high.

The BMW was but an example. It's the whole BMW lifestyle that I was referring to and the (high) cost to you as a person of maintaining that ultimately false lifestyle.

- By the way, You don't know me or anything about me. So leave the terms like slacker out.

 

[trixs]

Personally I dont think I live below the 'standard' at all . I personally believe, at least for people at my income level,  that the biggest factor is a new car.  People who go out and buy a new car end up with a $400 monthly payment plus at least $200 in insurance.  I got on ebay and bought a 92 firebird with 40k miles for 2,000. Its lasted 3 years so far with no problems(now with 65k miles) and I expect it to last another 4 or so years.


I probably eat out at least 7 times a week, cutting back because I hate running!
Honestly eating out isnt that more expensive for me as I dont have a family.  Maybe 1 dollar more a meal... Unless i loved top roman.

Anyway all you youngens... FORGET THE NEW CAR AND SAVE THAT EXTRA $600 A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!.......

 

[Dawg52]

I have to admit........I am pretty much a frugal person. New cars, bigger house, expensive clothes are not important to me. I could afford it all but its not gonna make me any happier than I already am. I'm not criticizing anyone that enjoys all that, it's just not my thing.

I do enjoy playing golf and I belong to a country club. Thats not the cheapest hobby in the world.    I also enjoy having dinner in a nice restaurant at least once a week. I don't travel very much at the moment due to my work schedule, but that will change when I punch out in a few months. I guess thats about it. 

 

[mikew]

I identify with what masterblaster said. If DW and me stoped saving, I don't know what we would spend it on. I would like to travel a bit more but beyond that there really isn't anything I want. 
A month ago we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Osaka  (American grub and happy hour). Last week we took some sandwiches and the dog to the river. You know, I had more fun at the river. 

 

[thefed]

Personally I dont think I live below the 'standard' at all . I personally believe, at least for people at my income level,  that the biggest factor is a new car.  People who go out and buy a new car end up with a $400 monthly payment plus at least $200 in insurance.  I got on ebay and bought a 92 firebird with 40k miles for 2,000. Its lasted 3 years so far with no problems(now with 65k miles) and I expect it to last another 4 or so years.

sounds liek a deal on the firebird. i jsut bought an 87 camaro (same car) min with t-tops and sold it for 1k more than i bought it for. it took em all of 2 weeks to buy and sell....my girlfriend would have KILLED me had I kept it....i guess 2 is enough..
I probably eat out at least 7 times a week, cutting back because I hate running!
Honestly eating out isnt that more expensive for me as I dont have a family.  Maybe 1 dollar more a meal... Unless i loved top roman.

Anyway all you youngens... FORGET THE NEW CAR AND SAVE THAT EXTRA $600 A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!.......

 

[eridanus]

expensive car
mostly organic food
eat "nice" dinner out twice a week
overseas travel for 1-2 weeks a year

I don't have a cell phone or cable (but do have DSL). I use the library often. I sometimes use the bus or ride my bike (but not if temps are above 80). My other vacation spots are the backcountry in national parks or forests (read: cheap).

 

[Calgary_Girl]

-Eat out 2 to 3 times per week

-Take a vacation every 4 months or so outside of the country. In the winter we head for someplace warm to recharge our batteries and last fall we went to Europe for a month

Other than that, no big expenses. One of my little joys is watching our net worth grow every quarter (yes, I need to get out more )

 

[haha]

I don't spend money on evil Monthly Bills. - Cable, Cell Phone, Latte's

Or Tools that involve work - Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Roto Tillers, Table Saws, Chain Saws, Log Splitters, etc. etc. etc.

This is truly a stroke of genius.

Ha

 

[sgeeeee]

I know that pretty much everyone here LBYM and does a good job of saving $$$, investing it, etc.

But how do you "live a little?"

I don't really know how to answer this. While most people would consider us frugal, what really drives our spending is the quest for value. If we value something, we spend our money on it. The perception others have that we are frugal is really just a result of the fact that we don't value certain types of things others consider luxuries (cable TV, expensive clothes, luxury cars, restaurant food, . . .). So when we travel cross country, we drive a Saturn VUE and stay in Motel 6 or camp. We bring a cooler of food for our meals. We enjoy camping and if we are only sleeping overnight and hitting the road, it doesn't make sense to pay more for a hotel. Picnics are a good break from the road and the food is better than most restaurants anyway. Yet in our recent trip to Munich we stayed in a 260 euro per night hotel because it was located where we wanted to be and we only had 9 days to see the city. Being somewhere with excellent service and centrally located was valuable to us.

 

[BUM]

A copy of ESRBob's book!

 

[Eagle43]

A couple of trips each year. Eat out several times a week. Just buy what we need, when we need it, and usually pay cash. No large bills coming in each month. And, continue to save.

 

[bamboogrrrl]

"What do we allow ourselves?"  Less and less now that we are in the middle of building a barn at our house for dh's British car/racecar business (I was suckered into it by getting a studio out of half the upstairs).  When will this project be over anyway?  It's taking forever!

Things we allow ourselves:

1. Tennis - good for my back problems and I love it...  I rationalize it as an investment in my own health.

2. Eating out at a mid-priced restaurant, down to about once a month.

3. Books and cds (check library first and if unavailable, buy used at Amazon)

4. Fancy cheeses!

5. Gardening (I collect various things: peonies, Japanese maples...)  This fall I planted 400 daffodils in our woods.

6. Adventure beers and low key entertaining with friends

At least with the things we do allow ourselves, they've got either a high pleasure content or are things that don't lose value.  And we're socking away roughly 30% annually toward retirement.  I wish I was of the zenlike variety and was totally satisfied, but a little more travel and dining out would be better.  I guess we can do anything, but not everything until this barn is done. 

 

[peggy]

DH just bought a (used) Infiniti FX-35 last May. I about fainted when I saw the price--but we can afford it; it might possibly delay ER by, say a year? But DH loves it, and I have to admit it is a very nice vehicle.

Eating out 2-3 times a week (usually less than $20 per trip, including tip).

Wine - about $30 per month for two bottles. One bottle lasts us two nights (heavy drinkers, aren't we?).

DH and I both have a serious book habit, but both of us have cut back lately.

Movies once or twice a month, usually followed by a meal out.

Lots of nights spent at home together watching DVDs or just talking and playing with the dogs.

And still saving 30% or more of our income, which is the biggest indulgence of them all.

 

[rmark]

Season college football, wrestling, and theatre tickets
Season community theatre tickets
One away football game (iowa st. this year, we lost)
2-3 short trips each year
Paulener hef-weizen beer
New hyundai elantra

 

[retire@40]

I'm surprised at how so many people think going out to eat is a treat.

If you people knew how much nose-picking and food dropping is done in the kitchen by cooks with unwashed hands, maybe it wouldn't be so much of a treat.

Maybe ignorance is bliss.

 

[SteveR]

I'm surprised at how so many people think going out to eat is a treat.

If you people knew how much nose-picking and food dropping is done in the kitchen by cooks with unwashed hands, maybe it wouldn't be so much of a treat.

Maybe ignorance is bliss.

I guess you have not seen how your food is handled in the food chain to your grocery store. I did food inspections for a while. After doing a few you learn to not worry so much about it. Remember; there are limits on the amount of rat crap and insect parts that are acceptable in your processed foods.

Ignorance is unavoidable unless you grow, process, store and cook ALL you own food. Not very likely for most people. You just have to take a lot on faith and hope the processors and cooks have been well trained and managed. Most good restaurants are very careful about this.

At least if you get sick after eating in a restaurant, you have a pretty good idea of who to blame it on.

 

[azanon]

1. Dream computer (that i built, always a work in progress) and double DSL bandwidth (SBC DSL Pro), monthly MMORPG subscription, PC games here and there
2.  Decent cars (04 VW and 95 nissan);  will replace my 95 nissan with a new Subaru WRX soon.
3.  Tennis league and tournament fees
4.  30" HDTV, and very nice 5.1 DD sound
5.  Wife buys furniture, clothes, eats out too much, and buys too many toys for my one kid.
6.  House built in 95', 1950 square feet.

We make 110K a year so to give some frame of reference.