Are You Frugal?

[mathjak107]

i have never really been frugal . i learned a long time ago a penny saved is a penny earned -but without good compounding it will always be a penny .


so i learned to attack things from the other side . i never really watched the penny's but whatever i did manage to save i made sure i learned to grow at the best compounding rate i could . so learning how to invest and tax plan is what i ended up doing . it let me spend more on the income side and make more on the investing side without pinching those penny's .

one of the issues i always found in frugal forums is many frugal people worship that dollar so much they are afraid of risk . so they do little to compound what they have and have to work many times harder trying to save those penny's .

 

[Peanut]

I don't know if i'm frugal or not but i do ask for discounts, back home in australia we are used to haggling with people it's what we are accustomed to so here in the sates i do the same thing and haggle with people and my husband's jaw drops everytime i succeed so now he to is trying his had at haggling and is getting some nice discounts of which he's now proud of. before meeting me he just used to pay what ever the asking price was on an item. not anymore, hahaha.

 

[debodun]

I make Ebenezer Scrooge look like Diamond Jim Brady. I have a panic attack whenever I have to spend money outside of "necessities" (food, taxes, gas for car, utilities). If I have a dripping faucet, rather than pay a plumber an exorbitant fee, I catch the water in a plastic tub and use it to water houseplants or put it in the humidifier. I get this from my maternal grandmother who invented hamburger helper during the Depression (one loaf of bread aground up with a pound of hamburger).

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I wouldn't call myself frugal, but I am careful with my money. I paid off my house shortly after I retired and have paid cash for just about everything else - including my vehicle. I bought a Smart car in '14 and paid cash for that. I do use my credit cards, but pay them off every month. I don't take much in medicine except for a couple of inhalers, so my medical bills are very low - check-ups yearly. I even paid off my hospital bill for my surgery right away. I don't buy a lot of clothing - I'm still wearing tee shirts I've had for years. around the house. The only fairly big expense I have is for my Taekwondo tuition. I refuse to get a smart phone; the charges for using them are outrageous - I still have a flip phone I've had for years. When it finally dies, I will get a track phone.
I DC'd the satellite TV and got an Amazon fire/Prime and bought an antenna - the Sat TV had gradually gotten ridiculously expensive. Antenna is free. I subscribe to HBO and STARZ for about a 10th of what Sat TV cost.
I do much of my shopping from Amazon - I have found them to be cheaper than most others for the kind of stuff I buy. I do cross check them occasionally.
There really isn't an awful I want. I keep things forever - until they die. I've done some major repairs on the house (I used to do them myself, but figure at my age (80) I'd rather pay someone else to do them now), but paid cash for those. Every year I try to do a major repair as needed. I hope to leave the house to my daughter and want it to be in the best shape. In the meantime I enjoy the company of my daughter, grandson and great grandson and love my little house and my critters (3 cats and 2 dogs). For entertainment at home I read, watch TV and play video games LOL

You do well Dragonlady! Can't do without my smartphone. It's many things to me. So I'm frugal in other areas so I can afford the phone. Actually don't pay that much because we switched from Sprint to MetroPCS...saved $26 a month right off the bat and the service is better. Plus went from 3G to 4G so the Wifi connection is faster. In addition I can use the phone's wifi for my tablet when I'm away from home. That would have cost me additional if I'd stayed with Sprint. I started to drop my land line phone service and downgrade my cable package for the second time in two years but the rep gave me a special for keeping Optimum Triple Play (phone, internet, cable) I couldn't refuse. He added Showtime and Starz which I didn't have before and reduced the bill by $31 a month. Total savings over two years ago $65 a month.

 

[nvtribefan]

I make Ebenezer Scrooge look like Diamond Jim Brady. I have a panic attack whenever I have to spend money outside of "necessities" (food, taxes, gas for car, utilities). If I have a dripping faucet, rather than pay a plumber an exorbitant fee, I catch the water in a plastic tub and use it to water houseplants or put it in the humidifier. I get this from my maternal grandmother who invented hamburger helper during the Depression (one loaf of bread aground up with a pound of hamburger).

That's not frugality. :sorrow:

 

[debodun]

That's not frugality. :sorrow:

What is it?

 

[Kitties]

That's not frugality. :sorrow:

I think some people might just call that being cheap. I'd disagree though. I like how you would not waste water. If it's for saving money or saving water, it doesn't matter to me.

 

[mathjak107]

cheap is when your lack of spending start's effecting the lives around you in a negative way .i worked with a guy who made his wife suffer in 100 degree weather because he was to cheap to buy and run an air conditioner .

 

[Kitties]

cheap is when your lack of spending start's effecting the lives around you in a negative way .i worked with a guy who made his wife suffer in 100 degree weather because he was to cheap to buy and run an air conditioner .

If the wife didn't have a say in the temperature of the home, I'd call that abuse.

That said, I do make my cats suffer at 81 degrees in the apartment all summer. But then I do too because it's what I keep the AC on and it's comfortable enough for me.

 

[mathjak107]

at 81 i would move out lol

 

[nvtribefan]

What is it?

I would put not maintaining my home in the category of penny wise, pound foolish.

 

[Aunt Marg]

If so, are you frugal because you want to be or have to be? I'm frugal because I want to be and finding bargains is fun. In what ways are you frugal?

I was raised in an old-fashioned frugal home where whatever could be fixed or repaired, was, and if there was use left in something or another, it was used right to the bitter-end. Every last drop of use was wrung out of whatever it was that we used in the home, and it rubbed off on me in a really big way.

When I got married, our first home came with a clothesline, but I remember telling my husband, good thing our home came with a clothesline, because if it didn't, we'd be putting one in. Then came our first born, and having grown up changing old-fashioned cloth diapers on baby siblings, I hesitated not a second in seeing to it that dear daughter wore the same.

Homemade baby food and formula also figured in, as did being a stay-at-home mom and fulltime homemaker, so all meals were prepared from scratch, and anything clothing related (alterations, mending, stitching, repairs)... my trusty-ole sewing machine was there.

I canned, and we kept a small vegetable garden. As for whatever could be reused or recycled, I did, right down to washing-out plastic bags and hanging them on the clothesline to dry.

Thrift and second-hand store shopping was a hugs one for me when the kids were babies/little, as was accepting any/all hand-me-downs that neighbours and family seen our way.

In 1992, our last was born, bringing the grand total of children in our home to 6, and one would think that after 5 babies, I would have reached my breaking-point washing diapers and making homemade baby food and formula, however, holding true to my old-fashioned and frugal ways, homemade baby food and formula along with cloth diapers and safety pins, remained the order of the day in our home.

I refused to cave to our disposable world.

 

[JaniceM]

If so, are you frugal because you want to be or have to be? I'm frugal because I want to be and finding bargains is fun. In what ways are you frugal?

Yes, and always have been.
Mostly because I can't stand wastefulness, whether it's products or money. My viewpoint: if I don't need it, I don't need it, and probably don't want it either.

 

[debodun]

I have made frugality into an art form! I am not a penny pincher, I'm a penny strangler!

 

[Keesha]

Absolutely not in any way whatsoever.
I’m not frivolous with money but not a tightwad either

I’m very generous since I understand that money is meant to be circulated just like everything else. What I put out comes back to me tenfold.

 

[Autumn]

No I am not frugal, but I do shop around for bargains and review most things before I buy them, For food I buy exactly what I want no matter what it is.

Me, too! After years of cooking what everyone else liked, I'm alone now and buy exactly what I feel like eating, even if the price is high. I don't drink, smoke or chase wild men - I deserve at least one indulgence...

But yes, I comparison shop, use coupons , etc.

 

[Pinky]

I'm more frugal with buying for myself, than I am for buying for others. It depends on what I'm buying though.

 

[RadishRose]

I'm on the frugal side because I have to be. But I don't bother with cents off coupons and will buy something not on sale if I really want or need it. Money is not a game nor an obsession to me.

Cheapskates and tightwads annoy me as much as those who brag about how much they spend.

It's just how I was raised. It was impolite to talk about one's money, politics or religion as not only boring but risks the chance of insulting a listener.

 

[JaniceM]

I'm on the frugal side because I have to be. But I don't bother with cents off coupons and will buy something not on sale if I really want or need it. Money is not a game nor an obsession to me.

Cheapskates and tightwads annoy me as much as those who brag about how much they spend.

It's just how I was raised. It was impolite to talk about one's money, politics or religion as not only boring but risks the chance of insulting a listener.

I never heard it applied to politics or religion, but had the same background regarding money- the word used was "tacky," meaning in bad taste.

 

[PamfromTx]

I live within my means. If I find a bargain, fine. I won't go too far out of my way to save a dollar unless it's worth my time and aggravation. At the same time, I am practical and not impulsive.

Me three.

 

[Geezerette]

I call it “thrifty”, rather than frugal. There are a lot of things I can’t afford: things I can afford but just as happy with less expensive substitute; things I feel it’s worth “splurging on” once in a while..
Some things I’d rather do without than get poorer quality substitutes. Look for value. Pretty much immune to fads.

 

[PamfromTx]

No, I am not frugal. I'm the opposite ... i enjoy giving to others. It makes me happy to do so. Now, I, on the other hand don't spend much on myself. I finally broke down and ordered some granny panties for myself. Long overdue. lol

I want the little ones to have everything they need. By little ones, I meant the youngest of the family; my two g-nieces (Lucy Jo and Lily Ann).

Aunt Pam got brave and went out to find them winter jackets and pjs. And of course I couldn't resist some adorable dresses. I wanted to get more for them but have to control myself.

Life is too short.

 

[Keesha]

I never heard it applied to politics or religion, but had the same background regarding money- the word used was "tacky," meaning in bad taste.

It's just how I was raised. It was impolite to talk about one's money, politics or religion as not only boring but risks the chance of insulting a listener.

I never got that memo but I’m starting to catch on.

 

[JaniceM]

I never got that memo but I’m starting to catch on.

Maybe it's a regional/background thing.
Individuals in my current location never heard of it.

 

[Keesha]

Maybe it's a regional/background thing.
Individuals in my current location never heard of it.

Yeah. Maybe. I understand not discussing religion or politics but I didn’t know money was included . I can understand why it would be.