Why are you frugal?

[socca]

POV #1: the best use of money is to spend it.

POV #2: the best use of money is to make more money.

I have long leaned toward POV #2. However, being the richest guy in the graveyard doesn't have much appeal.

 

[Morricol61]

This is really impressive.

Thank you!

 

[Markola]

POV #1: the best use of money is to spend it.

POV #2: the best use of money is to make more money.

I have long leaned toward POV #2. However, being the richest guy in the graveyard doesn't have much appeal.

That really distills the matter to its essence.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

POV #1: the best use of money is to spend it.

POV #2: the best use of money is to make more money.

I have long leaned toward POV #2. However, being the richest guy in the graveyard doesn't have much appeal.

I've looked at money as golden servants.. If i have enough of them, and the flock increases i have more and more of them toiling for me. Eventually I can sell/eat/harvest enough of them to buy what I want, when i want it.
Heck eventually i can just sit on the hill top and watch the activity below me.

I actually turned down the chance yesterday to buy something 30% off that will mostly be in a closet that has some cosmetic imperfection that I wouldn't notice the couple of times a year I would use it. The herd of servants is in need of pruning..

 

[Nemo2]

#3 Minimize the impact that other people exert over what you do and when you do it. This is the one I chose.

 

[RetireAge50]

We are frugal so we can spend more. We earned about the same as others but will spend about 4 times our earnings.

 

[scrabbler1]

One reason I have been frugal is so that later in life (such as these days in ER) I can use that extra money to buy my way out of potential cost-saving inconveniences. I won't usually go to two different supermarkets to save a few extra dollars on food, for example. It's too much of a PITA (even before COVID-19) to deal with that. The other day, I was going to get a desk lamp at Wal-Mart for like $3 but when I got there, the wait time just to enter the store was at least 30 minutes. I said to myself, "No friggin way!" and went back home to buy a similar lamp on line on Amazon for $20, minus the small gift card I had.

 

[Squirrel]

We are frugal so we can spend more. We earned about the same as others but will spend about 4 times our earnings.

I don't understand this...

Is it due to good investments?

 

[Squirrel]

My parents were raised in the Depression, and I'm sure that had a strong influence.

However, in my teenage years, I read Gone With the Wind and got scared straight.

Sudden poverty, taxes, and disruption. (In addition to the horrors of war.) Scary stuff.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

#3 Minimize the impact that other people exert over what you do and when you do it. This is the one I chose.

I would agree and by "other people" to me I would include advertising. I like spending time on research and science based ideas of happiness and compare them to what we are told from advertising. The main finding from the longest happiness research project is social connections, but that is not a big topic from advertisements.

 

[ls99]

Because I like it.

 

[aja8888]

Learned it all as an adult by reading finance blogs and books.

My family growing up was the same as everyone else's that lived in our neighbourhood, so I didn't feel like we were poor or anything, but we certainly weren't rich. Dad was an alcoholic who earned good money but pissed it up against the wall before he got home on payday. As an adult I realised that renting for life and worrying about money like my parents had done wasn't the only way to live, so once I decided that I wanted to buy my own home I read as much as I could about how to save and manage money. When I tried to talk to my husband about saving up to buy a house and stop wasting money on drugs, alcohol and junk food he disagreed most strenuously and our marriage broke down as a result.

I moved out with two very young children into a rented flat behind the shop where I worked and started saving like a mad woman. A year later I had a better job and the deposit and a loan approved to buy my first home, as a single mother of two.

Marriage got back on track after that and although my husband and I had different values and goals, I never wavered from wanting financial independence. As my marriage went on the rails once, I realised it could do so again so I was driven to economise and save where ever possible.

Happily the marriage is still on track 41 years later and we have a good retirement fund, own our home, 3 cars and caravan and have enough cash in term deposits to live on for 2 years if we have to. We both retired at age 57 and are living the dream. I still prepare a budget every year and track expenditure closely because it helps me sleep at night.

I learned how to be frugal and we live comfortably now, whilst still spending less than most of our friends. It is a habit that I'll continue to practice till I die.

This is a job well done. Your husband is a lucky man! Thanks for sharing the story!

 

[aja8888]

One reason I have been frugal is so that later in life (such as these days in ER) I can use that extra money to buy my way out of potential cost-saving inconveniences. I won't usually go to two different supermarkets to save a few extra dollars on food, for example. It's too much of a PITA (even before COVID-19) to deal with that. The other day, I was going to get a desk lamp at Wal-Mart for like $3 but when I got there, the wait time just to enter the store was at least 30 minutes. I said to myself, "No friggin way!" and went back home to buy a similar lamp on line on Amazon for $20, minus the small gift card I had.

Has Amazon delivered the lamp yet, or are you still waiting?

 

[RetireAge50]

I don't understand this...



Is it due to good investments?

Yes. Well kinda. Just average investments which double in value about every 7 or 8 years. The frugality allowed me to get the “seed” money in there which now grows faster than I can spend it.

 

[unclemick]

I’m no longer frugal. Retired long time, older.

+1

heh heh heh - plus I heard this vicious rumor - 'you can't take it with you.'
26 years ER and counting.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

My grandparents came to the US just in time to try to make their livings during the Great Depression, then my parents were born in time to be brought up remembering wartime rationing, so I got a good dose of frugality growing up. My parents scrimped and saved and improvised to try to give me a (barely) lower middle class upbringing, my father being the first college graduate and white collar worker in the family.

Now, I still stand in front of items in the grocery store with a look of concentration on my face. It's not easy calculating the unit price on items when one brand's unit price is by the ounce and another is by the pound. But I didn't get to be moderately wealthy by paying $0.11 cents more for the exact same thing!

 

[jollystomper]

My parents were immigrants and had the "long term" attitude present in so many immigrants to the U.S. Frugality was part of that attitude. I learned from them not only how to be frugal, but to be frugal with contentment.

Upon reflection, some of their lessons, both verbally but especially by actions ("more is caught than taught") stood out:

- Frugality gave important skills. Our parents taught all of their children how to cook, how to sew, how to wash clothing, how to make basic auto/household repairs, how to negotiate, etc. Many of those skills paid off for us beyond just frugality.

-Frugality gave patience with a purpose. My parents attitude was "be frugal now so that you can have something in the future". The idea was to have a goal that your frugality would be addressing. With a goal, you did not care about what others thought about your frugality, as you were trying to achieve something.Perhaps that is one difference between being "cheap' and being "frugal".

- Frugality allows you to better control things, and less outside forces control you. This is in terms of what you need vs. what you want. Ones wants can easily be more driven by the outside influence of what others have. With frugality it can be less so.

- Frugality did not mean you could not help others less fortunate. One of my parents favorite sayings was "I was unhappy because I had no shoes, until I met someone who had no feet". Even though we did not have much, they were still doing something to help those less fortunate. It helped me realize, even when being frugal, how blessed I still was.

 

[RobLJ]

We just had recycled fibers that we twisted into twine to wrap the newspapers around our feet.

You had bootstraps. Luxury!

As a child of parents who were kids in the depression and had all 4 Grandparents available (who had kids in the Depression), I never felt or was frugal, except when I left rural America for grad school on the coast (and then went to Houston to work for 25 years). When I interacted with more urban peers, I often realized that I would be frugal in their eyes, although not in mine.

I blew money on books and records. Growing up, I never imaged retiring in this lifestyle (not luxurious by many's standards here although probably so by many), although the Okie postman granddad saved and built a cabin in Colorado, so in retrospect, I realize how much my life arc has followed something of the same shape, without the tragedies...., so far. (Don't insult the Gods.)

 

[Finance Dave]

My dad taught us to take care of things so that we didn’t have to spend our hard earned money so quickly. At 14 I had a job cutting grass and then delivering papers...and I was shocked how fast the money left my wallet when I bought something. I would wax my bicycle annually to prevent rust, and when I got my first car I performed regular maintenance dutifully.

I almost never buy top of the line...don’t need 14 settings on the clothes washer.

I was taught to spend money most on things you use often. I was an auto mechanic when younger...and I bought really good tools...had them insured for $14,000 in the mid 80s. But I only go fishing once a year....so I bought a cheap fishing rod. This advice has served me well.

We try to not be tightwads though...we tip well, donate to those in need, take our turn buying rounds of drinks, treat someone on their birthday, and so on.

Being frugal in some areas allows us to be more generous in others.

 

[SnowballCamper]

When I was around nine years old, my mother "borrowed" $120.00 from my savings account. She proceeded to pay me back $20.00 a month for six months.

I'm not sure this made me frugal, but it gave me the banker's perspective. In my early 20's I blew a lot of money, but not as bad as Jason Moore (an army buddy). He was a couple years older and knew what time the direct deposit paycheck hit his checking account. He promptly withdrew it all out and spent it in a weekend splurge. After a few days, the money was gone, and he had a system for writing checks. Must write the check for more than the overdraft fee of $20, but less than the fee for a merchant to swear out a warrant at the courthouse, $50. It was surreal.

So between those two extremes, I focus on value. So for example, I only order water to drink if I go out to eat (which is rarely--but usually during restaurant week). On the other hand, we hired an architect to design our custom home, and that has turned out to be money well spent. After living in over ten generic houses, then having one well designed for you, you notice how terrible most home designs are.

If you click on my profile picture and zoom in enough, it's the bag for some wool balls. They're the replacement for dryer sheets, which we'll never need to buy again (and still not get zapped by the clothes).

 

[teetee]

> How is your own Frugality Super Power helping you weather the choppy seas of Covid19?

My avg annual spending is less than 10k. After working full time for 7 yrs I had over .5M vested. I spent more than usual in this March and April because I needed some hobby to compensate the time I was house bound. My portfolio valuation did go down a bit but even if it goes down to 1/10 I don't think I will do anything about it. I am the type that tracks the srock index and not planning to lock in any wins or loses until I need the money.

I think no debt and no unnecessary subscriptions are the secret that I could be frugal. I am thinking to buy a house with cash in the near future so hopefully that works out. The housing is still too hot in our area though.

 

[rayinpenn]

Parents divorced -
1) we ate but it usually was modest fare - franks and beans
2) didn't always have money for the oil burner
3) always in fear of the next shoe to drop

I wanted to be able to live financially fear free.. I learned it was better then I had hoped.

I’ve thought a lot about this over the years and I am frugal to reduce stress. When the jalopy needs tires I just buy them -there is no fretting over finding the money. Bam done. My early years were overwhelmed by stress and the sense I wasn’t in control.
Back then there was no one to teach me about money as no one I knew had any.

 

[tb001]

I’ve thought a lot about this over the years and I am frugal to reduce stress. When the jalopy needs tires I just buy them -there is no fretting over finding the money. Bam done. My early years were overwhelmed by stress and the sense I wasn’t in control.
Back then there was no one to teach me about money as no one I knew had any.

One of the biggest stressors for me as a young adult with no money was driving unreliable cars. Never knowing if I was going to be stranded on the side of the road or going to have a surprise extra bill. Or the days I had just enough money to put in gas to hopefully make it to work. A horrible feeling.

 

[Badger]

Glad I had good role models (a Yankee dad - if it breaks then fix it. If it breaks again then fix it again. And a rural southern mom that grew her own food and canned for the winter months).
When I went through a divorce I gave my ex everything if I could keep the small house. I even had to give her all the furniture. Then the heater broke. I had no heat or air-conditioning for 4-5 years because I had no money to buy a new one until I met the lady who is now my wife. She said she would marry me on one condition. So with her small income to match mine I finally had a heater. I was able to keep going through those single years with a backyard vegetable garden and a sleeping bag.

Things are much different now. Thanks Mom and Dad for showing me the way.



Cheers

 

[VFK57]

During last 30-35 years I was watching our relatives and friends families with kids, in what way they were raising their kids and who raised successful and unsuccessful young adults by financial independence from their parents. Kids who had any desire provided to him/her by their parents, while growing (most people love their kids very much), there was many failures to launch, some of them are well over 30 now. On the other hand kids who were put in a condition that they had to work for their wants (in early age by helping parents at home chores, having good grades at school, no behavioral issues etc, for teenagers - work part time for your wants) they turned up successful and on frugal side, understanding the value of money and hardship associated with earning them.