Among Friends

[hckynut]

(thread title)

@ccassaday

I believe I am, and have been since my 1st job in my single digit age. Others? Some call "cheap", among other things. Some of those "other" things?  Not up to meeting Community Standards"

hn

[jeanlake]

Good question. I'm unsure whether I can label myself totally frugal, so I looked up synonyms: thrifty, economical, careful, cautious, prudent, provident, unwasteful, sparing, scrimping

I'm all of the above except I could do a better job recycling and I'm not sparing and scrimping. We travel often and take decent vacations. Buy quality jewelry, shoes, handbags and clothes on sale. 'Research' major purchases and take advantage of sales. As a two-income family, we chose to qualify for homes on one income only. We drive quality cars but not luxury vehicles (our choice - not judging those who drive luxury vehicles). Sound investements for retirement, but one can never predict the future. I enjoy being economical and wise, but we're not sparing or scrimping. 

One thing that isn't always mentioned on this topic is being generous. Some of the wisest, economical people I know are generous in their giving. It's amazing how blessings flow back into your lives.         

[Sooner]

I hate to see people pinch every penny and die never having benefitted from their money. Like they say you never see a hearse stop at the ATM.

[sissel]

Dave Ramsey is great helping the younger generation how to save. He was bankrupt when he was newly married. I see (my daughter too) working & not getting ahead due to charge payments. My husband & I sat her down telling her why pay 20% interest every month for something you brought on sale? She now pays her charge off every month, owns a townhouse & Goodwill has nice things for her house. If you don't get your finances figured out when you are young, you may have a problem with retirement. Never live paycheck to paycheck, if you do then you may be over spending. Open up a ROTH savings better than regular savings. Go to the bank & they will explain a ROTH or get Dave Ramsey's books. He explains it simple.. 

[Carmie]

Yes, I am very frugal.  I only buy what I need and if it is something that needs to last a while, I buy the best quality I can afford.

We don't pay someone to do something we can do ourselves.  My DH is very handy and does all the work on our cars, TV's and boats.  We don't paymmechanics.

We do our own painting and our own cleaning, car washing, dog washing, etc.

we don't own a new car, but we own three of them.  Both of our RV's were purchased brand new.  We take care of everyone we have, so we don't have to replace things often.

People are often surprised when we tell them what year our boats, RV's and cars are. They look brand new, but they are not.

We don't go out to eat often, but we are sea food people and spend a good amount of money to get the good stuff. We buy steaks and other quality expensive food.

We take  a lot of vacations and always have, though we don't stay in 5 Star places.

I buy good clothing, but not much of it...anymore.  I used to buy too much.

i buy good fitting, expensive shoes, but they last.

For me, frugal means spending money wisely and not wasting it.

[chrystaltree]

I don't know how you are defining frugal.  We are smart and careful with our money.  We aren't spend thrifts.  But we enjoy our lives and buy the things we need and want.  We just dodn't buy top of the line things when something that costs less will do.   We aren't into expensive things, we are into having nice things and nice experiences.  We certainly don't sacrifice our today for tomorrow.  We work hard and we enjoy our life and we do like nice things.  We're just careful and realistic and never fell into the credit trap.  We intend to retire well like our parents did.  Which means we'll work full time and save until we are 70.  

[Mom2Dogs]

We have always lived below our means, we never wanted for much.....well we like nice furniture, appliances, etc but we never vacationed a lot or spent money just to spend.  We saved until we had cash to do most of the projects around the house.

Since we have been self employed all our married life, it helped us keep our finances in check...ya never knew from one month to the next what business would be.  It worked for us.

[haddon9]

My 91 year old mother is very frugal.  She's been that way all of her life as a child of the depression.  She knows the cost of most items (that are important to her) in the supermarket.  Ask me and I couldn't tell you how much a pound of bananas are.

Now she's very comfortable and can afford to enjoy small luxuries but old habits stick with you....she still counts those pennies ("every little bit helps") which sort of drive me crazy.

[happycat]

I'm frugal in some ways. I make my own household cleaner, just  some amonia, a few drop of dawn and water, for windows, countertops, and such.  I tend to buy household items on sale and stock up.

I've been wanting a chair to go in front of the fireplace and I found one of fb for 35 bucks a few days ago. Its a wooden chair, the back and seat are woven. I love it. While there, I bought an afgan, and some pretty, old dishes and an oil painting - that oil painting was 2 bucks and probably 50 cents, but I thought it was pretty, so I got it. He has a crew cab truck and it was full of things I'd found when we left. He did get a baromoter to put on his desk at work.

I did tell him that I seriously doubt that any one he works with, or their wives would have had as much fun as I did shopping that sale. Lucky us.

I can have just as much fun at a sale like that as I can a big mall.

Sometimes we buy new cars, sometimes we buy cars under 30k on them, but we do keep them 5-10 years.

[WaJa61]

Growing up my parents had to be frugal ~ times were very tough, so I learned to be fiscally conservative. My family now complains that I'm too frugal for myself, while not at all with buying for them and others. I can see how it would annoy them over the years, and they now gift me with expensive items they know I’d love or need but refuse to buy for myself. So this is counter-productive, as well as silly. I certainly don’t want them feeling as though they need to do that. I'm not even retired yet! Make a nice salary and my husband owns his own business. Our home is paid for ~ I don’t need to work, just love my job. 

We don’t buy cheap when it comes to vehicles, farming equipment, household appliances, furnishings, etc., because that's not practical. They don’t hold up. I'm talking about personal items like fashion, cosmetics, hair stylists, day spa treatments,  perfumes, jewelry and such. I skimp on these things ~ usually trim my own hair and do my manicures and pedicures.

I'm going to work on this and since I'm slowly getting better with delegating, I think I'll finally hire someone to help clean the house as @Newgate has. I've always doubted that someone else could do it to my picky standards, but I need to get over myself! Free up more time to enjoy my family, friends, travel... and even some shopping and pampering. We can’t take it with us and our children’s and grandchildren's inheritance is already set up, as well as our burial plans. 

I won't go crazy, though! I've seen first hand how healthcare costs can completely drain family resources. We never know what awaits us in this regard.

Also have a set amount that I donate to my church and other charities. Big believer in the first fruits go in obedience to my Lord's instructions. 💜