Among Friends

[chiclet]

Yes because I am always worried about the future.  I don't know what I would be like if that was not an issue for me.  If I have a ton of money and did not have to worry about money and the future I don't think I would be frivolous and throw it away. 

[winamac1]

I am frugal about a few things.    We bought a house that's nice, but we could have afforded far more home.  Hubby and I didn't want to be house poor.   We paid if off at about 45 years old, and I love not having a mortgage as there are plenty of monthly expenses without a mortgage.  That being said, we had 2 incomes and no children so it almost would have been fiscally irresponsible to not pay it off.

I agree with much of what Dave Ramsey says--why have a mortgage if you don't have to have one?  The stock market is so volatile that one is not guaranteed any return greater than not having a mortgage.  Peace of mind is also a huge benefit!  You may be getting a % back from the govt., but you are giving the govt. far more to get that % back.  It makes no sense to me to unnecessarily carry a mortgage or debt.  

When we go on vacations, we don't spend the night at $350 plus hotels.  We usually choose some form of a Marriott and not a Four Seasons or a Ritz.  If we wanted to do that, we could as we don't go on too many vacations. 

Hubby bought a Ford Escape.  He drove his Cavalier into the ground--had over 120 k miles on it.  

I don't shop at super expensive boutiques.  Yes, I buy from Anthropologie and LLLemon a lot, but I don't go to boutiques that charge $350 for a top.  I also don't shop at Nordstrom in the designer dept.  I go to the Free People area and look for sales.  We have a Saks Fifth Avenue 15 minutes from my house, and I rarely buy from Saks.  I won't pay $500 for a dress or over $200 for any top.  My one sister routinely shops there and has beautiful suits costing far more than I'd feel comfortable spending money on.

I won't be cheap with food.  But, that being said I'm frugal when it comes to paying for places like Whole Foods.  I won't pay double for groceries, and I don't buy organic unless it's on sale.  I eat a lot of frozen vegetables so I buy them at Meijer.  I won't pay $2.50 for a 12 to 16 ounce bag of broccoli at Whole Foods or Earth Fare when I can get the same thing for half the price. 

I don't go to Starbucks often though I like their tea.  I'd rather get a tea at Panera for $2.93 (which is still super pricey), but I can get free refills. 

DH is super frugal.  He spends very little on himself.  He only buys what he needs.  I'm certainly not that way.  I buy shoes and clothes which I don't need on a regular basis. I think the older I get, the less frugal I become.  But, I'm still not super extravagant.

I have friends who are far more frugal than I am and friends that spend more than I do.  For me, it's what I'm comfortable doing.  I will never live beyond my means and want to retire early.  

[winamac1]

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@ccassaday wrote:

THere  is a difference in being f frugal and being a cheap scape. It is prety nasty that some people will do to be cheap. You can be frugal and still enjoy your money.

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@ccassaday

I totally agree!  My husband is frugal not not cheap.  He only buys quality when he buys. We also donate within our means.  Hubby likes nice restaurants when we are on vacation and has no problem paying $200 for a nice meal for 2 with wine. 

If I want something really bad, I get it.  I'm trying to buy only quality now.  I have too many clothes and shoes and am giving away a lot of items I bought just because they were cute and on sale.  I'm now more willing to pay full price if it's a brand I love that never goes on sale.  

[CelticCrafter]

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@Sooner wrote:

NOTE:  The following statement is not directed at anyone in this thread or at any particular post.  It is a statement about people I personally knew during my life and I DO NOT know anyone here and will not draw any conclusions about them.  That being said:

SOME of the people I grew up with thought they were far superior beings because they were so tight they squeaked.  Their happiness was based on being better than everyone else because they didn't spend their money.

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@Sooner - you must know my in-laws! 

[Sooner]

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@CelticCrafter wrote:

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@Sooner wrote:

NOTE:  The following statement is not directed at anyone in this thread or at any particular post.  It is a statement about people I personally knew during my life and I DO NOT know anyone here and will not draw any conclusions about them.  That being said:

SOME of the people I grew up with thought they were far superior beings because they were so tight they squeaked.  Their happiness was based on being better than everyone else because they didn't spend their money.

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@Sooner - you must know my in-laws! 

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Well, don't know about YOURS but some. . . 

[Sooner]

You may be better off with a short term low rate mortgage than paying the govt the taxes to take money from an IRA to pay cash for a house. Depends on where and how your funds are distributed, your tax rate, age, etc. etc.  You really have to run the numbers carefully to figure out how things like this play out. 

[on the bay]

@Mominohio-

This is so true!

Frugality is certainly a relative term.

I met a woman last night who must have been in her 40's. She was an 8th grade math teacher and also had her own cosmetology business. She had turned her garage into her own studio. She said most teachers had 2 jobs.Otherwise they would not be able to afford rent or housing , much less vacations, investing etc.

Sometimes being frugal means being able to afford rent, food, transportation, health care etc.

Everyone here is coming from such different financial means I think.

It doesn't mean that wealthier people haven't worked very hard all their lives either, but for some, a high paying job, or family wealth or income, or even a spouses healthy finances makes all the difference in what people can afford or even be able to "invest" at all.

It is a little arrogant to me that some can assume everyone should be able to save for a "nest egg" ( a term used in past generations!). It is very fortunate to be able to have been able to have saved or earned, worked for, or been given enough to live off of in retirement or even when starting off.

Where one person's frugal might be not going to Nordstrom, another's might be not buying any clothes at all.

One is not any more nobel than the other, I just always want to be able to appreciate and never pre-judge anyone on their circumstances.

How much or little a person has money to spend or save or not, is not always an indication of character. 

[PilatesLover]

We are frugal and now even more so since my husband had to take a lower income job. 

We always drive used cars, DH does all the yardwork and the home repairs he has the skill for. He was a mechanic so he does all our auto repairs and maintenance. We clean our own house. I avoid dry cleaning only clothing. I began doing most of the grocery shopping at Walmart and only a few things at Stop & Shop or Big Y. I'm surprised how good Walmart's Great Value food products are, and their produce has really improved. 

I'm switching from Paula's Choice to Cerave products, and I do my own manis and pedis, buy drug store cosmetic brands. My only beauty splurge is to have my hair cut and colored at a salon. I buy my clothing at TJ Maxx or Walmart because I must buy expensive shoes due to my feet problems.

We rarely eat out and when we do it's at some place cheap. I'm a good cook and enjoy it, so why pay someone else? I keep credit cards below $200 if possible. Now that my son is an adult, I can save 15% of my salary. I started out with 2% and gradually increased over the years. We even have super low data on our phones and don't use the bluetooth option to avoid going over data. I don't buy trendy TV ad items that all end up in landfills and read library books. We don't have hi def cable. 

The only place I refuse to be frugal is in a situation where buying something cheap will end up not saving money in the long run.

With all those conservations, I still I pray every day that my 401k won't get wiped out again by this roller coaster stock market.

[Regal Bee]

I wouldn't say I am frugal but I do watch my spending. I don't waste my money and never have. We planned for our retirement from the beginning of our marriage and did most of the 'around the house' work ourselves and all of our remodeling.

My husband can fix or repair just about anything and also build things so this was a huge blessing for us. We keep our cars for a fairly long time and don't spend a lot of money on vacations. My big weakness is my home and I spend whatever I choose on that with my husband's complete okay. I also love clothes but take such good care of them, they last forever and never go out of style because I don't purchase fads.

We have a very comfortable retirement... but worked hard for it.

[PilatesLover]

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@bikerbabe wrote:
A bad economy most certainly can make money invested go away. Stock market crash, high unemployment, inability to find a comparable job after your employer goes under, having to tap into your retirement fund at the worst time. It happened to me and many others which is why I’ve found myself starting over the past seven years. I just love the smugness of people who think it can’t happen to them.

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I'm with you. It is a miracle we kept our home during the Great Recession, and it is a small home in an area where mortgages are not astronimical. I always have worry simmering in the back of my mind that it will happen again, partly because of reasons that I'll get poofed for mentioning, and also because at  this point we are too old to recover from another big economic crash.