Being Frugal Has Allowed Me To.............

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
Spend on things that are important to me. I save money where, when and however I can so that I can enjoy buying or doing what I desire. I/we took 6 weeks of vacation last year and God willing will take the same amount this year; hopefully one of those weeks will be cruising. I once was curious to taste a piece of sugar free, chocolate Khalua candy (the size that comes in a box of chocolates) from a chocolate shop and paid $2.50 for it. I donate 14% of my income to charities of my choice. I have been able to help family and friends financially as well as start trusts and/or 529 plans for my son's children. If I want or need something, I go for it. Once I saw a skirt I loved in Penneys. Took it to the register without even checking the price. I am planning to treat my family and a couple of extended family members to dinner at our favorite restaurant. Two years ago, I treated a party of 14 to brunch at IHOP to celebrate my grandchildren's birthdays, which fall within 3 weeks of each other. Over the course of last year, I took a few friends to lunch. So obviously frugal to me doesn't mean being a cheap, penny pincher. Years ago, I was able to buy a new car and after retirement...an oceanfront timeshare. When I was working, I made a promise to myself...as long as I was saving/investing a certain monthly amount, I would spend the rest however I pleased. I'm still doing that.

What has you frugality allowed you to buy and accomplish?
 

Diva- God Bless You for sharing the fruits of your frugality with your family and friends. It is refreshing to hear an uplifting story for a change, since so many of us at this point in our lives are not in a position to help, or are in a position to help but don't out of fear.

I've never been particularly frugal myself. So if things get tough I'm moving in with the Capt L or Lon. :)
 

I think having the peace of mind that when I croak my wife will not have to depend on support from any government agency. Buying quality needs that last and saving a lot of money by being able to do things as in DIY projects made it possible to invest the money not spent.
 
I was brought up the philosophy that doing a good job or deed was reward in itself. It was quite unnecessary to talk about it.
I've always tried to be prudent with my money and it's allowed me and my family to have a reasonable life. What I do or don't do for others is of no concern.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Not so much frugal, but being prudent has allowed us a comfortable life without bragging about it.
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I sincerely hope you don't think I'm bragging Captain. My post is to point out that being frugal does not mean to deny yourself something and we need not feel we will be considered cheapskates by others when we live frugally. People from different social and economic backgrounds have asked me to share what I'm doing because it helps them to get real, focus and do what they need to do to become more financially secure. I will be posting other frugal moves that have saved me a lot of money and my hope is always to help others, especially seniors and millenials, see that they can do the same. So I'm sharing here, not bragging. :)
 
I have always been frugal. Beside the benefit of saving money here and there It makes me feel good not to be wasteful. I'm working on repainting my kitchen cabinets. I did spend the extra money for top quality paint. I think it will pay off in the end. I also noticed I could use hooks for my mugs since the top of the cabinet was wasted space. I priced them out. The handles on my mugs are quite thick. Hooks at Home Depot were $1.00 apiece.. I needed 12 hooks. I came home and found a piece of wood in our basement. My hubby cut it to fit. I sanded it, painted it. The hubby drilled 4 holes and inserted little metal things to hold the shelf up,which I had saved from an old cabinet. The cost was nothing. I thought $12.00 was quite a savings and I have more space than the hooks would have provided. a real feel good day!
 
The worst time for me was when I owned a house. Repairs needed. Then I bought furniture for the extra space, like the extra bedroom, and had a thrift store pick it up when I sold the place. I didn't even want the stuff anymore. Needed upgrades that went to someone else and money wasted on furniture I didn't keep but a few years.

I've saved living in an apartment. But I have a very bad manager to the point of needing a repair and I'm terrified to request one due to what happened last time. They jerked me around for 3-4 days. I'm going to have to buy again, repairs or no, so some weirdo doesn't have the key to my home and I'm safe with the cats.
 
It allowed us to pay off our home years ago and stay debt-free. We pay off our credit cards every month. That allows us to put more away for retirement. We still buy things that we want, but we think about it more carefully.
 
Capt Lightning said:
I was brought up the philosophy that doing a good job or deed was reward in itself. It was quite unnecessary to talk about it.
I've always tried to be prudent with my money and it's allowed me and my family to have a reasonable life. What I do or don't do for others is of no concern.
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I understand what you mean Capt Lightning: When I donate by check, I send a note asking to keep me anonymous. It's not necessary to do that when I donate online. And I thought the purpose of a forum is to discuss things, sometimes being we use screen names, that we don't or wouldn't discuss with others in person. This is especially true of financial matters. This is the first forum I've been in where people are so candid about their finances. A some folks would take issue with that. Just sayin....

I found that when encouraging people to talk about their good deeds, some people had thought what they were doing "didn't matter" or "wasn't good enough", when in fact their contributions of time, a shoulder to lean on or whatever, were very important. And they felt good after the responses from members of the forum who gave such positive feedback on just how valuable their efforts were; they were truly thankful for that.
 
Hoot N Annie said:
Diva- God Bless You for sharing the fruits of your frugality with your family and friends. It is refreshing to hear an uplifting story for a change, since so many of us at this point in our lives are not in a position to help, or are in a position to help but don't out of fear.

I've never been particularly frugal myself. So if things get tough I'm moving in with the Capt L or Lon. :)
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Thank you so much for saying that Hoot N Annie. You are obviously a smart woman who totally gets the purpose of this post. :)
 
Capt Lightning said:
I was brought up the philosophy that doing a good job or deed was reward in itself. It was quite unnecessary to talk about it.
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That reminds me of the quote that says something like 'what matters is what people do when no one is watching'

I find that philosophy very relevant in my actual work job. I have found though for myself, no matter what I do, things just don't work out. Or it bites me back later somehow.
 
Kitties said:
That reminds me of the quote that says something like 'what matters is what people do when no one is watching'

I find that philosophy very relevant in my actual work job. I have found though for myself, no matter what I do, things just don't work out. Or it bites me back later somehow.
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Kitties...that's too bad! I have done good deeds that have somehow wound up "biting" me as well. It doesn't feel good when it happens, but usually it doesn't stop one from continuing to do good deeds. I hope that in the future you get no more "bites" and that things work out well for you!
 
A piece of advice I was given (roughly translated from the original dialect) ...
Say nothing, pay for nothing and if you do something for nothing make sure it's for yourself.

I had a colleague in work who had car problems and I foolishly offered to have a look at it for him. The fault was fairly obvious, but instead of being grateful, he just moaned that having found the problem, I hadn't fixed it. Later in work, he was heard boasting that he never did anything because there was always someone who would do it for him. That was the end - the word got round and nobody would do anything for him...

And now the payoff - not long afterwards, he died unexpectedly. He was hardly cold when his widow remarried. Apparently she had been having an affair, so it seems that somebody had been doing that bit of 'work' for him too!
 
Capt Lightning said:
A piece of advice I was given (roughly translated from the original dialect) ...
Say nothing, pay for nothing and if you do something for nothing make sure it's for yourself.

I had a colleague in work who had car problems and I foolishly offered to have a look at it for him. The fault was fairly obvious, but instead of being grateful, he just moaned that having found the problem, I hadn't fixed it. Later in work, he was heard boasting that he never did anything because there was always someone who would do it for him. That was the end - the word got round and nobody would do anything for him...

And now the payoff - not long afterwards, he died unexpectedly. He was hardly cold when his widow remarried. Apparently she had been having an affair, so it seems that somebody had been doing that bit of 'work' for him too!
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Wow! People like that who take advantage of others who do kind deeds for them are the worst. They are users who think the world owes him something. They say Karma is a bi*tch so he got what he deserved. And the wife thing....he probably never appreciated her either so she let someone do it for him (pardon the pun).
 
Say nowt,pay nowt and if thou dos somat make sure you does it for your sen. The Yorkshire gal in my could not resist Capn.
 

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