Too Frugal - Anybody Else Struggle Spending Too LITTLE?

[street]

I'm frugal and when I think of all the things I wouldn't need and stuff I should not have bought, I would be a very rich person today. I survived all those unnecessary things we have and all that stuff we could have done without.

Having more money at this time in my life wouldn't make ne happier so having those expenses didn't cause conflict where I am today. When I think of the money, I could have saved does make me depressed for a few moments though.

If I would have been on the edge of paycheck-to-paycheck purchases buying or having things in life would have been different.

 

[GenXguy]

I'm mid 50's and still working, about $2M saved (no pension), and would say I've been on the side of extreme frugality in general, such as almost never eating out at restaurants or just getting the low cost specials (maybe using coupons) through drive-thrus, no cable or paid streaming services. Zero travel. I hate to pay for anyone to do anything for me if I think I can do it myself, even if it means something gets put off longer than it should. But then, other times I spend a lot more than I need to, buying a brand new mid-size car at one point, a brand new motorcycle at one point, an expensive bike, a new e-bike just last year, various expensive electronics beyond my needs, so there's been some balance in extreme frugality and more wasteful spending.

But with inflation the way it is over more than a year, I'm trending more to the extreme frugal side. I've only paid to go to a restaurant twice in the last year (excluding work cafeteria) and have spent very little in other discretionary spending over the last 12 months - probably just a few hundred $ (the e-bike was purchased about 13 months ago).

Last summer, I was planning a likely retirement for this May, but I'm even putting that off for at least another full year and see how things shake out with inflation, the economy, my investments, and more. At best, my planned "less frugal" discretionary spending in retirement will need to be reduced to make up for inflationary costs. And my past plans of relocating, particularly out of state, are pretty much out the window.

 

[Sunset]

I realize that I am unnecessarily frugal. For example, we have never had cable tv. I recently subscribed to Netflix. Last night, when we were deciding what to watch, DH picked something from a free streaming service to watch. I reminded him that I was canceling Netflix at the end of the month and if there was anything he wanted to see he should go ahead and watch it now.

Really? I can well afford Netflix but I am super careful about anything that is an ongoing expense.

I like when I cancel Netflix, it goes to the end of my current 30 day cycle and then stops. Months later I can start it up again, and it remembers everything.



Because I'm cheap, I once signed up as a new user to get the 30 free days, but I'm smarter now as the time I spent finding my movies and series to watch and remembering where I left them off (season 4 esp 6) made me realize the simple stop and start was better for me.



I'm currently wasting my 99 cents per month Hulu subscription as we are watching the multi-year series shameless on Netflix and each episode is LONG.

 

[NW-Bound]

I'm frugal and when I think of all the things I wouldn't need and stuff I should not have bought, I would be a very rich person today. I survived all those unnecessary things we have and all that stuff we could have done without.

Having more money at this time in my life wouldn't make ne happier so having those expenses didn't cause conflict where I am today. When I think of the money, I could have saved does make me depressed for a few moments though.

If I would have been on the edge of paycheck-to-paycheck purchases buying or having things in life would have been different.

I have always been LBYM, so have no regret over what I spent money on.

The thought of figuring out how much more money I would have if I did not buy a 2nd home in 2005 and used that money to invest did cross my mind. But then, I remember the enjoyment we had out of it and the numerous times I and my son rode our dirt bikes into the forest, and believe that the cost is worth it.

Same with the thought of how much more money I would have if I continued working instead of quitting my part-time consulting work 10 years ago (they continued to want me back). But money was not all of it. The work was what I enjoyed, and would have continued to do if the environment was not so Dilbert.

In the end, I brush all that aside, and try not to second-guess myself on past decisions. What is important is what I have now is way more than I spend, and I have had 10 years of relaxed retirement and have done so much travel.

I should spend time to look forward to see what I want to do. Well, I know what I want to do, but this damn Covid thing makes it more complicated and stressful.

 

[Lsbcal]

We want a new car to replace the 2002 Toyota (just short of 100k miles) with the fender DW banged up. But now the car we want is in short supply and dealers are asking MSRP + $2k.

A dealer in our town is asking "just MSRP". OK, I am willing to go with that but it won't be a good feeling. I do like the fact I won't have to worry about getting a deal. I am used to dealing with "invoice + something for dealer". Oh well.

 

[Lsbcal]

I have always been LBYM, so have no regret over what I spent money on.

The thought of figuring out how much more money I would have if I did not buy a 2nd home in 2005 and used that money to invest did cross my mind. But then, I remember the enjoyment we had out of it and the numerous times I and my son rode our dirt bikes into the forest, and believe that the cost is worth it.

Same with the thought of how much more money I would have if I continued working instead of quitting my part-time consulting work 10 years ago (they continued to want me back). But money was not all of it. The work was what I enjoyed, and would have continued to do if the environment was not so Dilbert.

In the end, I brush all that aside, and try not to second-guess myself on past decisions. What is important is what I have now is way more than I spend, and I have had 10 years of relaxed retirement and have done so much travel.

I should spend time to look forward to see what I want to do. Well, I know what I want to do, but this damn Covid thing makes it more complicated and stressful.

Yes, the Covid thing has complicated travel for us. We don't want to eat inside restaurants for some time. I cannot quite define the "all safe" signal for us. Maybe we will have to do more VRBO type things and do some cooking. DW wants a vacation from cooking and takeout is an option where available.

NWB, from some of your past posts in the stock part of this forum I would guess you have made the right moves in the past and enjoyed life. Sounds like you don't need more money. I probably don't either but I understand the desire to keep that curve moving up and to the right.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We try to live well on half, lately less than that, of what we could spend. It is a game I enjoy playing, so it is not work or hardship. Yesterday I bought 4 bags of groceries for $31, between some gift cards I made with Reddit beer money activities, store specials and half price bakery deals. The groceries included a big head of organic cabbage for $1.50 a pound and a bag of organic carrots for 90 cents a pound. Those will be nice additions to some anti-cancer stir fries and salads. I also bought a couple of new pairs of sheers for $8, combining a 30% off sale and gift cards. I earned $40 in recycling points from another program. I usually find deals like that all month long and it really adds up. It is almost the end of the month and I still have half of my monthly spending budget left.

 

[Sunset]

I'm frugal and when I think of all the things I wouldn't need and stuff I should not have bought, I would be a very rich person today. I survived all those unnecessary things we have and all that stuff we could have done without.

Having more money at this time in my life wouldn't make me happier so having those expenses didn't cause conflict where I am today. When I think of the money, I could have saved does make me depressed for a few moments though.

.....

Frugality still runs deep in me.
I STILL regret putting new tires on a car that I sold cheap 1 month later and that was back ~1980 .

I also found out my grandfather spent a huge amount of money building a summer home back in 1922. We still have the money pit and I enjoyed my time there a LOT as a child growing up. However, according to my calculator had Grandpa invested the money and left it to grow, it would be worth ~$52 Million right now.

Currently the money pit is worth ~$100K on a good day and costs me about $5K per year to keep.

 

[brett]

I am over the frugality business but we still shop on value. Does not matter if it is food, travel, communication.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, the Covid thing has complicated travel for us. We don't want to eat inside restaurants for some time. I cannot quite define the "all safe" signal for us. Maybe we will have to do more VRBO type things and do some cooking. DW wants a vacation from cooking and takeout is an option where available.

NWB, from some of your past posts in the stock part of this forum I would guess you have made the right moves in the past and enjoyed life. Sounds like you don't need more money. I probably don't either but I understand the desire to keep that curve moving up and to the right.

Other than travel, I have no desire to spend more. Well, perhaps a class B motorhome to replace my existing class C.

No, I don't need more money, but making money is kind of fun. It takes less time than when I was working, and has a different kind of fun than one of technical work, but fun nevertheless. If I lost money by active investing, of course it ceased to be fun and I would not continue. Fun technical work is different, because I am spending my own money to do it as a hobby.


PS. If I suddenly had a lot of money, I knew what I would want: a waterfront home on Bainbridge Island. However, that does not look within reach and I am not one who buys lottery tickets.

 

[Dtail]

I have always been LBYM, so have no regret over what I spent money on.

The thought of figuring out how much more money I would have if I did not buy a 2nd home in 2005 and used that money to invest did cross my mind. But then, I remember the enjoyment we had out of it and the numerous times I and my son rode our dirt bikes into the forest, and believe that the cost is worth it.

Same with the thought of how much more money I would have if I continued working instead of quitting my part-time consulting work 10 years ago (they continued to want me back). But money was not all of it. The work was what I enjoyed, and would have continued to do if the environment was not so Dilbert.

In the end, I brush all that aside, and try not to second-guess myself on past decisions. What is important is what I have now is way more than I spend, and I have had 10 years of relaxed retirement and have done so much travel.

I should spend time to look forward to see what I want to do. Well, I know what I want to do, but this damn Covid thing makes it more complicated and stressful.

Yeah I also think about once in awhile how much more money I would have if not for my expensive divorce.

 

[aja8888]

Yeah I also think about once in awhile how much more money I would have if not for my expensive divorce.

Yes, agreed and my second one was even more expensive than my first!

 

[Surewhitey]

Regarding streaming services, we usually rotate in/out on occasion to maximize our roi. However my buddy gave me a hard time when I canceled HULU (he was "borrowing" my service)...

He offered up his Disney+ to us, so I keep HULU full time now.

Our house sitter logged into our TV with her Netflix, so we now benefit (with her approval) on occasion when there's nothing else to do.

I totally expect these streaming services to crack down on multiple users accounts one of these days...

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I totally expect these streaming services to crack down on multiple users accounts one of these days...

I think it must be hard for them to do or they would have done it by now. I got an alert that someone had logged into my Netflix account in North Carolina, when it was actually one of my kids using it in on vacation from a laptop at a hotel in California. So it seems like they can't really track actual locations all that well.

 

[aja8888]

I fell off the "frugal wagon" today.

I bought Honey Crisp apples at Walmart for $2.59/lb. The Gala apples just didn't appeal to me at $1.79/lb. (Forgive me)

 

[NW-Bound]

I fell off the "frugal wagon" today.

I bought Honey Crisp apples at Walmart for $2.59/lb. The Gala apples just didn't appeal to me at $1.79/lb. (Forgive me)

Oh boy! Now, you need to update the expense projection in your spreadsheet.

I hope the better apples are worth the extra work.

 

[aja8888]

Oh boy! Now, you need to update the expense projection in your spreadsheet.

I hope the better apples are worth the extra work.

What's more depressing is how much apples cost these days.

These are all coming from South America if you read the little stickers on the apples. Must be the transportation costs.

 

[NW-Bound]

What's more depressing is how much apples cost these days.

These are all coming from South America if you read the little stickers on the apples. Must be the transportation costs.

Well, it's not apple harvest time here in the States. So much of our food has been coming from far away. If the globalization of commerce stops, we will miss a lot of things we take for granted.

 

[Bamaman]

Nice to hear there are other conservative (frugal) people out there.

And it's especially nice to have made it to age 72, when I've lost about 6 close friends in the last couple of years. I hope to eventually forget about my aging and just accept life for what it is. I'm thankful to look and act far younger than I am.

It's time to go into partnership in a new venture--RMD's. And my partner is none other than Uncle Sam--an especially good steward of everyone's money. My Year One withdrawals are required to be more than my last work year (13 years ago).

I've made it so far without having to make any IRA Rollover distributions, but of course that's changing this year to avoid a 50% penalty. I've got the 2 houses, 4 cars and 2 boats--and have nothing to do with what l funds are left after paying Ole Unc. his taxes. I just curse the politics of 2022, and a reduction in my Fidelity account.

I'm not too thrilled that RMD's are kicking me up in tax brackets, but it is what it is. I'm glad to pay the governor of this fine state her state income tax on RMD's, but they need more education money to get us better than #52 in scholastics.

With a 10 year old granddaughter to raise, we are no longer spending too little in life. If it wasn't for her, we'd be charter members of the Ultra Frugal Club. At least the high gas prices are not affecting us since our everyday driver is a Hybrid @ 42 mpg.

 

[street]

I am over the frugality business but we still shop on value. Does not matter if it is food, travel, communication.

Yes, that is the way we operate too. We give a lot of funds away and at times that is hard for me to think about.

Yes, it is fun to make money and I still love to see my stash grow. On the other hand, it isn't going to make any difference what amount I have when I die. It's not a game or competing to see if I can have more at the end point. I don't want that to become something of importance and feel I have to keep having more.
I'm working on to find that balance of frugal of want and need.

 

[GenXguy]

What's more depressing is how much apples cost these days.

Tell me about it. I was paying something like $3.08 for 3 pounds of apples at Wally World back in mid 2020, and now it's $4.27. And it doesn't stop at apples!

 

[aja8888]

Tell me about it. I was paying something like $3.08 for 3 pounds of apples at Wally World back in mid 2020, and now it's $4.27. And it doesn't stop at apples!

My 4 pack of 6 ounce carton of 4 Wally world Great Value Yogurt went from $1.24 to $1.82 in one day. And it's really not great yogurt.

 

[ScoopKona]

Wow. I'm positively tight fisted.

I use a flip phone that costs $10/month per line. I would get rid of them but my wife wants to keep them, in case her car breaks down, she runs out of gas, etc.

I get OTA broadcast and watch whatever channels that provides. No cable. No satellite. I watch very little television at all.

No streaming services at all.

I've never owned a dryer.

I don't use air conditioning. My last three addresses are Hawaii, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Prior to that, Egypt.

I go out to eat maybe four times a year. We don't do fast food, take out, delivery, and similar.

We rarely eat out on vacation. (The cost of renting accommodations with a kitchen pays for itself in money saved not eating in restaurants.)

I buy clothes at thrift stores -- particularly work clothes which are going to get destroyed in a matter of weeks.

With the money we saved doing the above, we bought houses.

 

[aja8888]

Wow. I'm positively tight fisted.

I use a flip phone that costs $10/month per line. I would get rid of them but my wife wants to keep them, in case her car breaks down, she runs out of gas, etc.

I get OTA broadcast and watch whatever channels that provides. No cable. No satellite. I watch very little television at all.

No streaming services at all.

I've never owned a dryer.

I don't use air conditioning. My last three addresses are Hawaii, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Prior to that, Egypt.

I go out to eat maybe four times a year. We don't do fast food, take out, delivery, and similar.

We rarely eat out on vacation. (The cost of renting accommodations with a kitchen pays for itself in money saved not eating in restaurants.)

I buy clothes at thrift stores -- particularly work clothes which are going to get destroyed in a matter of weeks.

With the money we saved doing the above, we bought houses.

Nice work. Smart moves.

From what you see here, we probably are all a bunch of big spenders here. You know, air fryers and all.

 

[street]

Wow. I'm positively tight fisted.

I use a flip phone that costs $10/month per line. I would get rid of them but my wife wants to keep them, in case her car breaks down, she runs out of gas, etc.

I get OTA broadcast and watch whatever channels that provides. No cable. No satellite. I watch very little television at all.

No streaming services at all.

I've never owned a dryer.

I don't use air conditioning. My last three addresses are Hawaii, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Prior to that, Egypt.

I go out to eat maybe four times a year. We don't do fast food, take out, delivery, and similar.

We rarely eat out on vacation. (The cost of renting accommodations with a kitchen pays for itself in money saved not eating in restaurants.)

I buy clothes at thrift stores -- particularly work clothes which are going to get destroyed in a matter of weeks.

With the money we saved doing the above, we bought houses.

Interesting!! Do you have any children?