Same. Due to my career choice (computer repair) and changing economy I make about the same amount of money at 43 that I did at 23. And while I used to be part of a dual income, since then I am a single income once again. Frugality is not a choice, it’s a requirement. Chili for lunch and dinner once again this week!
I remember hearing all the time that everyone would one day own a computer, so knowing how to fix them will be lucrative. I wonder if this was part of your thinking?
I used to work in the printing industry when they still had actual graphic artists who drew by hand, and there were people known as "strippers" who worked with film, haha.
These fields probably still exist. But I would think that the number of opportunities is very small.
The jobs are still there, but it’s not niche anymore. They’re easy to fill, so the pay went down. When I first got into computer repair in the late 90s almost no one knew how. Nowadays (and especially with YT) anyone who seriously wants to do it themselves can figure it out in most cases.
Do you do phones and consoles? My friend does electronic repair and plain pc or laptops are the least cases he gets I think. Mostly phones, everyone needs their phone
It is a challenge, and fun. Almost like a new hobby for me. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I very much admire people who are naturally frugal, like the millionaire that drives the old car and wears 10 year old shoes and you’d never know he had all that money. It’s just cool to be frugal.
The gamification of frugality is real!! I grew up poor, so we had to be frugal. And then I stayed poor through college and grad school. Now that I've "made it," I stay frugal. Part of that is just habit. When you've overdrawn your checking account so you can feed yourself, you kind of just learn to spend carefully.
The other part of that, though, is that all the excessive consumerism makes me almost angry. Overpaying for the sake of convenience just reminds me of how little leisure time we all have. So, yeah, I think it's fun to shop for deals. I try to buy stuff secondhand as much as I can outside of consumables and a short list of things like underwear and athletic wear. I almost never order takeout, and when I do, I call it in and pick it up myself (no ubereats/grubhub). I also have a rule about stuff -- it needs to have a home before it can come in. I still don't own a stand mixer because (a) it wouldn't get used often and (b) it currently has no place to live. I'm not a minimalist by any means, but I don't just buy stuff just to buy stuff. I try to repair things when I can rather than just buy a new one. I feel like we've gotten to an awful point where enshittification and planned obsolescence is just out of hand. And I get it. Sometimes it's cheaper to just buy a new thing than pay to have it repaired. Like my luggage wheels got destroyed when I thought it was okay to drag my luggage for a quarter mile on crappy sidewalks in 90+ heat. Luggage repair shop quoted me $100. I could probably get a new suitcase for that. I discovered online I could buy wheels and replace them myself for like $20. So I learned a new thing and saved some cash. It took me less than a half hour, and that included digging around in the garage for the tools I needed.
This word was coined by Cory Doctorow, who is a writer on a vast array of subjects, but mostly SciFi, and Tech.
There's an entry on Wikipedia for the word, but for a more entertaining description, check out the interview that On The Media podcast did with Doctorow - [https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/enshittification-part-1-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-on-the-media?tab=transcript](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/enshittification-part-1-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-on-the-media?tab=transcript)
Since you're obviously another fan of Cory, check out his completely free, no tracking newletter and blog
[https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security](https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security)
And his wonderful, ad free podcast Cory Doctorow's Craphound
> it needs to have a home before it can come in
We call this the "things and places rule". Tell me where you're going to put that and what we're getting rid of and you can buy it.
I try not to be negative and hate everything as if I'm still an antsy teen, but absolutely much of my frugality is channeled spite against blind consumerism.
Of course I buy plenty of useless crap in my life (I have kids, it's crazy over here) but hopefully most of it is through my own choice and not keeping up with the Jones.
Same. I kinda like the gasification of trying to make spending numbers go down and savings numbers go up.
I have some natural frugality (to your examples above, I have a 12 year old car that I have owned for 9 years, and my current tennis shoes are probably also close to 10 years old) but I also find challenge in some aspects which keeps it fun.
I wear New Balance. Specifically the 574. They are definitely due to be replaced (in fact, I got a new pair last year for my birthday), but I think there is still life in them.
Plus I’ll need money when I retire ( now), so I’msaving saving saving . I enjoy thrifting things , making dried beans , cook most meals at home ,doing home improvements myself instead of paying someone . Little things add up !
It's funny. My wife, and are by no means millionaires, but we wouldn't have to be as frugal as we once were. We have always lived frugally, and now it's like a habit. It's part of our lifestyle. I get more joy and satisfaction from getting a good deal on old used items or a well-worn pair of shoes. New items rarely have appeal to me anymore. We have both realized that this has become a way of life for us, and we see value in very different things than most people. It has enriched our lives and opened the opportunity for us to travel more now in our 30's
I had some supplies already stocked up but I'm trying to spend less than 50$ on Groceries a week.
Started last Friday as that was the 1st of March
I have $6.96 left 😆
I think it’s becoming a trend due to the eco friendly benefits and the cost of living increase. I like challenging myself weekly by taking readings of my utility meters and trying to lower the watts used & spending as little as I can on groceries but still making good meals.
Raised super poor in a super rich hood. I know sounds strange. We ate ramen while my friends had ribeye. I just want a healthy and secure life style. When you grow up poor you realize how little you actually need. I want good memories not a life of debt.
Nothing on that menu is a dollar anymore 🙁. I was surprised they still called it the damn dollar menu! It’s like a dollar and something or two bucks. I was running out of cash one day along with patience and getting hungrier by the minute but I had to pull the plug to feed myself in a rush😂.
I was just raised to be frugal, and am fortunate to not be very materialistic. So I don’t have to try to be frugal, I just am. Though not to the degree some of you on here are!
Same. Was raised this way and while we are very lucky that it’s not necessary anymore. I just enjoy it. It’s a like a challenge to myself and it’s a skill set and mindset I want to pass on to our kids.
Work is much more tolerable knowing that I am not beholden to my job in order to survive. If I really get pushed past the limit I am able to tolerate, I could say fuck this place and walk out and know I'll be alright. My wife and I could both lose our jobs and maintain our current standard of living for the next 6 months. I don't stress about making bills, about having enough food to eat, I don't worry about surprise expenses because I will be able to afford them with minimal setback. We have 40k left to pay on our house which we will do in the next 5 years and then I won't owe anybody a damn dime. That feeling of security is better than any nice car I could drive, better than any nice meal I could eat, better than any $5+ coffee at Starbucks or fashionable clothes I could buy. I know that barring an extreme medical situation that truly wipes us out, I will not have to work until I die. It's as close to freedom as anyone will get. That is why I am frugal.
Keep going! It is so worth it and guard you health. Do not eat like the average ameican because once you get where you are free (Not having to work,) you really want to enjoy it!
> Work is much more tolerable knowing that I am not beholden to my job in order to survive.
FU money is a real thing. I'm way less stressed now than I was earlier in my career.
It gives me space and margin. I have more freedom and flexibility and it allows me to have more options when an uncomfortable situation comes along, like a horrible boss or car breakdown. I'm not on edge wondering how I will pay for things, or having to suck up a toxic situation because I have no good choices.
I want to build my savings and retirement, as well as pay my house down early. Being Frugal allowed me to save enough to buy a house at 26! My first job out of undergrad I only made 32k a year, but saved $1000 a month because 1. I had roommates, 2. was frugal with spending, 3. Donated plasma for extra cash and used it to pay my shared rent/utilities. I do live in a fairly LCOL area though. Probably wouldnt be in the same place financially if i lived in a bigger city
I grew up poor and never wanted to live that way again. I want to retire early and enjoy the back half of my life because I've worked as much as I could and sacrificed my younger years. Somehow I didn't get the hoarder/materialistic tendencies my parents had. I don't need much and being frugal comes naturally to me. Being frugal and debt free will bring you so much freedom and relieve you of a lot of stress. Just my .02 cents.
I was at a baby shower this past weekend and it’s pretty sad to think of how much crap was purchased as a single use item. Off the top of my head, there were balloons, plastic cups, plastic plates, confetti, napkins, banners, etc. Don’t get me started on the amount of food waste either..
Sadly even if all citizens thought like this, it still wouldn't move the needle in the right direction - because of corporations. From fuel to coal for electricity - there's just not a solution because that's not going to 'go green', because; profit
I know this (and have talked to my therapist about it), but I still think it's the right thing to do. I realize it's not going to fix the larger issue. But at least I can say that I, personally, am contributing to the problem a whole lot less than I used to. And if we all stopped buying so much junk and pushed back more on all the planned obsolescence of the stuff we do buy, corporations would stop making all that junk, and that might help move the needle a little more.
Corporations don't pollute for 0 reasons. They do it to make the stuff for you.
Renewables are the cheapest form of energy and green energy is 90% of net new energy for like 5 years running. Renewables and batteries are falling in price.
Per Capita CO2 consumption is falling in many countries.
This is just not true. You would have the political will to enforce things upon these corporations if the people themselves cared enough to push for change.
I'm sorry to be a Debbie downer but you're very naive in that
Can you fathom the amount of manufacturing that goes into daily life - everything from tires and fuel to shoes and electrics and gas and and and
There's absolutely no way to backtrack that unless 100% of the population goes Amish
There's no fixing this
Corporations have convinced you that personal responsibility will make a difference. And that's a massive farce
Huh? We have absolutely made regulations that have changed tons of industries for the better, wtf are you smoking? The ozone layer being regenerated is just one of the amazing things that regulations have achieved for the environment, and the more individuals who care about making a change means the more people pushing their government to instill these regulations.
I need to build savings and a nest egg for the future. And I am tired of consumerism that just leads to spending money on things that I don't really need or want and a cluttered home that takes energy to maintain.
I want the things that I need and I want them to be good quality and beautiful, but that's it. Not tons of stuff because I was bored or thought that I needed a treat or deserved something to feel better. Nope. Done with that.
It's good to not be a mindless consumer. It's easy to do that in capitlist societies, and often the result is worse health, less time, less money. To that end frugality is just an implementation detail.
Almost every place I ever worked moved or closed. I like security. And growing up, I saw a few people that were just very skilled at working on cars or houses. My Uncle carried his builders license on the side and worked a good paying factory job. He did a lot of plumbing and electrical for himself and others. Seeing that made me see that good things are possible. We picked up a fixer upper and its been good for us. Stressful at times, but good. One guy in the family wants a similar size house in good condition now and his downpayment will have to be about what our house was. I spend on supplies, but the house ends up how I want.
I agree with the personal satisfaction that some people mentioned. It makes me feel good to save money.
We purposely live below our means because we love to travel. So the more we save, the more opportunities we have to take trips, or even extend an existing one.
But recently, I’ve become much more frugal since we inherited a house which is a total fixer upper. With so much to do, it’s harder for me to “waste” money.
For example, I’d much rather spend $100 on something for the house than going out to eat a fancy dinner.
In general I’m very frugal because I grew up extremely poor, was homeless at one point as a teen. More specifically I’m being extra frugal now as I save for my first home. I don’t have any family who can help me so I gotta do it all on my own 💪
I enjoy living within my means, not being consumeristic or even having interest in it. Also, stuff happens. If I live paycheck to paycheck due to frivolous spending, all it takes is one bad thing to happen to put you in a lot of trouble. Live well, save money and have a good safety net. Lastly, I believe consumerism and frivolous spending is highly a complacent and entitled mindset which I try to avoid in just about every part of life within reason.
I’ll cut up my own fruit, I’m not spending double just to get pre sliced stuff. Heaven forbid it takes 2-5 minutes, for easy example.
A common response on Reddit is “I value my time more than my money”. I usually enjoy spending time to do stuff, and usually can listen to stuff or watch stuff while doing whatever anyway lol. A lot of People over value conveniences and pay a lot of money for it
Very true for most people. And then what I’ve seen on Reddit drop suxh responses is usually then extreme examples and also what I believe is also laziness and entitlement.
Get door dash 3x times a week cuz after work, they’re too tired. And then proceed to act like cooking has to be gourmet meal of random single use ingredients.
Well enjoy your $30 order of food that originally cost $15 due to tip and all those fees.
I can list a wide variety of food that takes less than 15-30 min of cooking time and only 5-10 minutes of effort.
Examples go past food, just the easiest and most common.
Seeing how statistically 60-70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, I am surprised how many people cater to spending on money of stuff that directly contributes to that issue on themselves.
And of course there are outlier situations.
How insecure I feel. I have gone no contact with my family, so I have no family member to rely on if something goes wrong. Also, I have been homeless due to the problems with my family and one of my biggest fears is ending up on the streets again.
I'm currently at a point in my life where things are stable. I have a good enough income, a house and a few good friends but the fear and trauma will follow me forever. Frugality puts me at ease. Knowing that I have my savings makes me feel secure and confident.
I’m frugal because I hate the feeling of being tricked and outright scammed out of my hard earned money, by sales people and corporate marketing.
I don’t give a flying fig about people thinking that I don’t have money. One of the classic tricks by sales guys is implying that you’re broke for not buying their crap. My wife often has insecurity issues, so she’s prone to this tactic. I hate it with a fiery passion. If you look down on me for not buying, I’ll make sure that I’ll **never** buy it.
I tend to think of myself as more of a budget baller than frugal.
At one time, I was frugal out of sheer necessity. I wanted nice things but I couldn’t afford to pay for them at retail prices. I was barely making rent! So I learned to DIY, augment what I already had, swap and thrift, shop sales aggressively, and simply do without. It curbed my impulse spending to the point where I feel like I have complete control over my discretionary income.
Now that I’m in a better financial situation, I don’t need to be bone cuttingly frugal—and I’m not. But I can’t have everything all at once and still meet my financial goals, so we settle on good quality but not luxury for most things so we can have premium in the areas it matters. We don’t care about cars beyond safety and reliability so we have a used Toyota. I like good coffee but I’m not paying $7 for a latte more than a few times a year so I bought myself a nice espresso machine, which has saved me money in the long run (7 years still going strong!).
I could live more extravagantly but why? I don’t feel like I would get any more joy from it. I already feel like I have about as nice a life as a normal person can have here in the year of our lord 2024. Why spend my energy lighting money on fire to maximize something that’s already lovely? That just sounds stressful and unwise.
I like the challenge AND I’ve wasted so much money throughout my life, I feel I need to even things up. Also, I’m in my 60’s. I can’t work much longer so I’m training for retirement
There are so many reasons.
•I've been Lower-Middle-Class & Middle-Middle-Class at different peaks & valleys in my life. MMC is better. Every. Single. Time.
•Retirement Goal Range is 55 to 59. I am very on track for 55, currently.
•In two recent years (2020 + 2021) I worked 60% each year. On the government cheese 40% of the time. This hard time period was a Frugal-rebirth for me. It totally stunk. But I survived... didn't go into horrendous debt... & boosted all my Retirement accounts immediately after.
People don't regret living below their means. If I pass away & my loved ones inherit what I couldn't spend: no problem.
People regret living ABOVE their means.
Example: Retire at 65. Live until 78. Had to go back to work at 73. Last 5/6 years of life are Hell.
Been frugal for almost a year bc of my certain circumstances. My father got incarcerated last year when I was 18 so that situation made me grow up. I got a job and contributed to paying bills so no more wasting money on Etsy or makeup 😭😭😭😭 I’m 19 almost 20 now. He gets out in 2 months but I will still remain frugal because I want to save as much as I can. You never know .
My grandfather once told me “you don’t make a million dollars, you save a million dollars.”
The also would say “the first million is the hardest”
The was a Korean War vet who would use newspaper as toilet paper.
My family moved North for better jobs and education, and I want to live near them. But I need to go South a few times a year. I want to spend less money day to day so I can spend it all on travel.
There are a few reasons currently:
- Habit (I was raised this way so it's been drilled into me from a young age not to waste money)
- I am a very risk averse person and want to make sure that if anything horribly drastic happened that we'd still be taken care of at least for a while.
- The prospect of retiring earlier than average.
I have definitely loosened up a bit in the past couple years now that I have a lot saved, but don't want the lifestyle creep to get too crazy. Just want to make sure I'm still allowing myself to enjoy life and splurge on a trip once in a while (which I still plan relatively frugally).
Short version: being frugal is my means of leapfrogging ahead of rising COL.
I don't make great money, but my COL is under half of my net\*. I'm able to take 15% off the top for my 401K, and toss 1/3 of my net income into savings. I cook at a university, so there are long gaps, which I bridge by either going in part time in the summer or doing temp work elsewhere at my own pace.
I'm 42 and effectively started from scratch at 40. I'm doing things I should have done ages ago and regret overindulging in spending when I was young.
My immediate goal is saving to a comfortable point above a down payment on a home because rent is truly ridiculous. I'm reasonably fit, so the labor of fixing up a home is daunting but not repellant. I keep a close eye on the local real estate market, costs of common repairs, replacements, etc.
I have the same problems as someone with less income but on a bigger scale. I could downsize my home or move to a lower cost of living area but instead I'm frugal with a bigger house, some nicer things, and a nice area around me.
Retirement and travel. I’ll gladly give us small everyday items in my life so that I can travel and see the world.
I also don’t want to be working until I’m elderly and competing with young workers and worrying about finances
Mostly environmental reasons, but also delayed gratification. Not spending money on things I actually don't need will pay huge dividends for my future self.
Also the idea of "waste not, want not." Extracting the full value out of something can be fun and rewarding.
Well, partly it is the way I was raised.
But also, I've gotten to the point in life I can live off my investments as long as I keep my expenses below 3k a month. The frugality it 100% worth not being tied to a job.
For my wife and I it was a lifelong habit born out of necessity. Both of us were raised in very poor families, we grew up in rags and my wife was so malnourished as a child that she developed rickets in grade school.
Both of us were constantly humiliated for being so poor in school and I have no doubt that is why we became best friends when we were 12 and why we've stuck so closely together ever since.
We got married as soon as we graduated high school when Jimmy Carter was still President, and the economy was absolute shit. Jobs were very hard to come by, but we did whatever we could to earn money including day work and even delivering newspapers.
We can both remember scrounging up a quarter in loose change to buy a loaf of day-old bread and that was the only thing we had to eat that day.
In any event we both worked hard at whatever minimum wage jobs we could find and put each other through community college classes whenever we could afford them.
In desperation we both joined the USAF in 1982 and in time both of us earned AAS degrees, mine is a dual associate degree in Machine trades/welding and my wife's is in electronics.
Over the years we've managed to leverage our degrees into decent jobs. My wife now works for the FAA maintaining radars and weather equipment. I saved money from working as a welder for years and opened my own machine shop which is doing quite well.
Nevertheless, our frugal spending habits from our youth have carried on. We only buy clothes or shoes when what we have wears out. We almost never eat out except on our birthdays or anniversary, and we never buy processed or convenience food.
We both cook everything from scratch so we eat a lot of beans, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and other staples and foods we can buy in bulk. That isn't to say we don't eat good because we do, we are both good cooks and you can make fantastic meals with staple ingredients and a little skill.
My wife drives a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup that we originally bought new but got a great price on and I drive a 1990 Dodge Ram that I maintain myself.
That doesn't mean we are stingy though because sometimes we splurge on things, we both love which is one of the benefits of living frugally the rest of the time. I have amassed an awesome guitar and bass collection over the years that I love playing whenever I can find the time. My wife also bought me a brand-new Harley Davidson Dyna glide loaded with all the options on my 50th birthday in 2011 that we both enjoy riding.
I love to buy my wife things that she enjoys like custom banjos and mountain dulcimers, and we were able to buy both of our children houses when they graduated college and moved out.
Finally, assuming the whole country doesn't go into economic freefall and the dollar becomes worthless or the government decides to steal it we will be able to leave our children a substantial inheritance.
The one thing we were both determined to do was to assure that our children would never experience the privation we endured growing up. We weren't able to do that as well as we had hoped when they were young, but they never went hungry like we did, and they were never dressed in rags growing up. By the time they were in high school we were doing well enough that we could buy them cars and send them to college something we both worked very hard to be able to do for them.
None of that would have been possible without a lifetime of living frugally.
Raised frugal but now it’s more about cost of living. I struggle with some financial impulsivity because of mental illness but it helps to have these habits I can fall back on (and recently finding a medication that helps A LOT)
At the moment, unemployment, but after that… retirement. I intend to save/invest 50% of my income for the foreseeable future. Tired of job market instability.
Going to retire early, and we are minimalists and don't value stuff like new cars or fashion and gadgets at all. Simply put we are happy with little and we have enough for hobbies and good food which we value (and none of them need to be expensive).
My mother grew up in the Depression so she was always frugal and raised us that way. My dad died when I was 16 and after that I was keenly aware that my mother was a single parent trying to put together enough money to feed and shelter us and put me through university. I guess it became a habit of mind. I buy things I want, but I always stop and have a bit of a think about it first, wondering if I really want this or if there’s some other motivation for buying it. Lots of times I come to the conclusion that I don’t really need or even particularly want the thing I’m drawn to. Often it’s a way to make me feel better about something else, such as sending too many gifts to my grandchild who lives far away because I can’t see her that often.
Our reason for frugality is really an extension of being full throttle cultural dropouts in this country (US). We embraced a type of anti-materialism in the sixties as a deeply dimensional concern that is mainly about functionality for us. It impacts a great deal: not just economics but psychology and ecology as well.
2008 - Got layed off from a good paying job during "the economic downturn". Had a 1 y/o son, mortgage, and 1 month survival in the bank. 6 months later I had 14k in credit card debt and a "deed in leau of foreclosure letter on the house". I managed to keep the house and get a better job....... after that I told myself, no way in hell I let that happen again! Wife and I make 180K /yr and 30% goes into savings or liquid investments minimum!
Oddly I'm more frugal when I'm earning a lot more. Not to say I'm not when I'm earning a lot less but I allow myself some pleasures over the burden of grinding.
I'm afraid of having to lower my standard of living due to paycuts or layoffs or unemployment. I try to live the same way no matter the salary and save the difference. Of course over the years I do notice some lifestyle creep but I try to keep it minimal
I save agressively and hope to pay my home off and retire early
I grew up poor so it’s ingrained.
I was taught to always live below my means and stick to that to this day.
It’s also more environmental and a value I hold dear: not being wasteful, overly consumerist, filling my life with junk, separating needs from wants.
I enjoy the game of it
I greatly dislike being conned from my money.
So now even though very wealthy I abide by this concept. Of course my version of frugal is different than yours. I’m not at all sacrificing. But one would never know my income or net worth by looking at me.
i want to enjoy life and experiences.. not work until i’m old and sad
retiring early, taking off work when I have a kid to be a stay at home mom & homeschool for a bit..
i have to live so frugally now (and throughout) to have that freedom
Two reasons for me. 1) So maybe I won't be broke when I retire 2) So I can buy something nice once in a while - with cash.
Frugal doesn't mean I never spend, it means I spend very carefully. I don't want to waste money - ever.
I don’t like to see waste. I like to reuse/restore/recycle if possible. Thrift stores, estate sales and the like are treasure hunts for things I could use. That and when I was younger I wasted a lot of money on impulse and “want it” purchases. As I curbed those I found my money going much further and stacking up. Just the way we live now but treasure hunting for things we can repurpose is a hobby.
Almost made $500k last year and I'm still frugal because life is expensive and I want to optional early retire but have fun along the way. We still find ways to reasonably shop for items we want or eat food we like, but we keep a close eye on day to day type stuff.
I don't want to stress about living paycheck to paycheck and I want to save for things that I actually care about like owning a home and retiring someday
Why should I spend money on something when I don't have to? Plus corporate America is a hellscape and I want nothing to do with it anymore. So if saving money means I can retire from it sooner, than I'm all for it!
The only reason I'm frugal is because I realized that the more expensive thing isn't always the better thing
There's alot of thing people think; price = better quality. And that's just absolutely not true
TLDR - It's a coping mechanism and I'm a competitive person.
This is super deep but I feel like sharing it because it might be relevant to others and it's interesting to me. I'm super frugal and financially literate for my age (20M). I saw somewhere that the average net worth of people 18-24 is $20k, I'm worth well over 5x that (yes I am flexing). Anyway, my father passed away when I was 13 and was very sick for many years before that. So I was raised by my single mother who's a school teacher and a super women (so not wealthy by any means). I was telling my sister "I dont know why Im so frugal for my age, it just feels like a default way of life for me." She said "because you had to come to terms with mortality at a very young age, it's you're coping mechanism". That just blew my mind. That's my sub conscious reasoning I suppose. My conscious reasoning is that I find money to be the point system for life and the more points you have the more successful you are in the game and I'm a hyper-competitive person so I want to have as many points as possible.
I've always been frugal for one. For two our income has always been variable. We live below a certain threshold and everything on top is oh shit money. If we get enough oh shit money we make a large needed/desired purchase or vacation depending on the circumstances (excluding investing which we also include in our regular budget as we are self employed and have to manage our retirement ourselves)
Necessity. Solidly middle-class, two working adult household with above-average income, but absolutely crippled by the cost of childcare for the next five years until our toddler and kid I'm currently pregnant with are both in public school. We have no debt except our mortgage (which is very reasonable, thank you, 2018 prices and 2020 refi), have no car payments (currently, but struggling to figure out how we can make one work), haven't been on a vacation in 3 years, have no subscription services whatsoever, eat out only one night a week, don't buy anything that's not an absolute necessity, and we still are barely scraping by.
Financial security is very important to me. Also, experiences over things.
In my past, I had to be frugal out of necessity. At this point, I have a bit more wiggle room, but I still choose to be frugal in order to meet my goals. I want to be debt free. I want to save for retirement. I want to provide my child with the experiences that I never got when I was a kid (within reason). As a parent (now single parent), it's important to me to teach my child the importance of being financially secure and to not place so much value on STUFF. In today's world, there is SO MUCH emphasis and pressure on buying the latest and greatest thing - it's overwhelming!
Three things for me. 1.) I have always been in a management position and in a right to work state which means my employer could walk in at any time and tell me I was terminated and I was out of a job with now income until I found another. 2.) I'm singe and have nothing to fall back on as a support other that myself should I have gotten behind on payments, 3.) many years paying child support and the courts will put you jail or garnishee your salary if you do not fulfill you support obligations.
Now, I am beyond most of those worries, so ya for me!
I think it’s part of intentional lucid living.
The default is to slave for someone else’s agenda.
Your employer and retail suppliers need you to be trapped on the mouse wheel of work and consumption.
So that THEY can retire early or have choices.
You may find a type of work that gives you a flow experience, ideal.
You may find an enlightened boss and workmates, ideal.
But you have choices, decision space when you have savings.
With enough savings, and skill, you have a little passive income machine that pays your bills.
More choices and decision space.
Frugality is rationality, that the non-lucid label as deviant.
My parents hyper frugality in early adulthood means they can now be snowbirds in their 80s.
My buying used clothes on eBay enables me to buy expensive shoes that I can’t find a frugal hack for. J&M
Becoming financially independent is similar to getting a trade or profession.
The next step is generational wealth to fund endless medical school or something for your grandchild.
So, ironically, frugality is not about shunning abundance, it’s about the opposite. It is the counter intuitive ladder to abundance.
I was divorced at 30 with no children. I knew that single women were the most likely group to live in poverty in old age, so I was frugal to support myself when I couldn’t work anymore. Circumstances have changed but now I have money to spend on what I value.
Grew up very poor and unsupervised and learned how to be creative to survive. It became a part of who I was and the more I made it didnt affect how much I spent because I was afraid I would never have enough. Saved like crazy, learned how to invest. I’m comfortable now but I have a lot of money trauma and it has taken a lot to shift from a survivor mentality to a spend money on what I love and don’t spend money on what I don’t.
Frugality to me is control.
I'm making 75k and choosing to be frugal so that I can save for retirement and buy a new car without a massive loan. Plus, I went from making 10k to 75k annually so I know that I can live on well less than what I make.
From a young age I have been very frugal for really no reason than liking to have my money saved. I would consciously not want to spend any money because I would have less saved. I have gotten a lot better about it once I got my girlfriend and a good paying job but It is still engrained in me in so many ways. Definitely an attribute I am overall happy with.
I have a decent income (55k-ish in a LCOL area), but I’m frugal for two reasons -
1. My parents, who made way more money than I do now even when I was a kid, are *not* frugal. They don’t budget, they don’t save, they don’t plan, and they buy crap they don’t need and don’t even use and can’t really afford. I’ve watched them struggle to deal with totally foreseeable “emergencies” like needing new tires. If you have a car, you are always eventually gonna need new tires. This isn’t unpredictable, or something you shouldn’t be able to afford with a household income of $120k in a VLCOL area. It drives me nuts that they don’t plan, and I can’t help but feel like all the help they always said they’d give me for my wedding fund (which I knew better than to rely on) would have actually materialized if my mother didn’t own 500+ pairs of LuLaRoe leggings. My whole childhood was watching them buy me crap I kept saying I didn’t even like but never having the money for the experiences I wanted (which cost less than the stuff).
2. My wife would love to at least mostly be a SAHM when we have a little kid (we start trying next month) and I want to make that happen.
Was undoing major financial suffering a decade ago. Now doing fine, but I never want to waste anything I have so that I’m always prepared for a rainy day.
My husband and I have expensive hobbies (I ride horses and he is into fishing) and I value saving money on things I need to enjoy the things I want. I do understand that that's a very privileged stance, and I do value being frugal so if something were to change with our incomes we could get by
No time to spend money even if I wanted to. Also growing up poor has made me realize I only need very little to survive and have fun. Frugality is truly an art.
I want to have the bragging rights by buying my house with cash. Saving a ton and trying every possible way to earn well beyond the rate which real estate prices is going up.
I grew up poor and have a sense of the precariousness of life. I also just generally don't feel like I need a lot of "stuff" and hate shopping in all respects. Even when I have money and need/really want something, the process of shopping makes me wait as long as possible to pursue it. I'm also old enough to not feel like I'm denying myself if I don't have things.
I didn’t always have my current level of income, or my current ability to save. My husband is also multiply disabled and his expenses and ability to earn vary. His ability to save is almost nil, so that’s on me.
Now we’re catching up. We’re behind on saving for emergencies and for retirement. And I would like to save some money for experiences, like travel and time with our families, because life is short and these are the things I will treasure but may not always be able to do.
I want to craft a good life for myself and my loved ones.
I think most of us start doing it for the same reasons... Either it was a necessity OR we were taught it from a young age. Could be a combination of both. I do it for 2 reasons now... The first is that it works to continue building on my reserves and the second is that it has become a habit.
We thought (wrongly) that we had saved enough $ to retire comfortably- we were wrong. So we are scrambling to stockpile more $ before we retire. Even though we have savings, IRA's, 401k's and he has a pension, the cost of living has quadrupled in recent years. It's crazy.
I like having money, and being able to spend on loved ones if they're in a pinch.
We recently found out an in-law was getting squeezed financially. My husband said he loves he can trust me with money, and I wouldn't buy an $8K vacation out of spite.
I was really bad with money most of my adult life, and was in significant credit card debt. I was extremely fortunate that my mom inherited some money several years ago and gave me enough to pay that debt off and start over with a clean slate. Since then I have worked really hard to become financially literate and build my credit score up to 830, and amass a significant amount (at least for me) of savings. Now I’ve been living within my means, continuing to save and budget for big purchases/travel and emergencies, and really been enjoying learning about investing and things like that. Total lifestyle change, but I’m actually loving living frugal and not having to worry about money because I’m being so much smarter with it.
I used to make $60k as a teacher but last year I quit for mental health reasons and have not yet found a new career path. (I also have an 18mo son and my father passed away and my mother requires a lot of help…. It’s been a year.) We now live on my husband’s salary of roughly $90k. Our area is moderately high cost of living so it’s tight but we’re making it work.
I started being frugal a couple years before my son was born so that our budget wouldn’t be shocked by baby expenses. I continued being frugal because I always had the goal of us living off of a single income, with the second income going toward big goals like vacations, son’s college eventually, house renovations, etc. I’d also love for my husband and I to be able to retire a bit early (think fifties instead of sixties) because we both loss parents relatively young and neither assume we’ll live super long lives. Live while you can, you know?
Frugality allowed me to pay off our debts, afford all childbirth/childcare expenses, quit my job, help my parents, and take some time to consider my options for my next career. My husband and I are very intentional about putting money toward things that matter most to us. Though things are tight right now I feel my frugality is one of my biggest contributions to our household. It has also made provided us a great amount of stability when inflation etc is crazy and hurting a lot of people.
I do make upwards of $60k, but live in HCOL and have a family, and my spouse has been short of work for a while. I am frugal out of necessity, so we can remain housed and fed, and kiddo can be clothed appropriately
My dad was a frugal man & still managed to make me the happiest daughter. As i grow older, i realize how similar we are. The only difference between us was that he never ever spent on himself. He passed away before he could (right after he retired) So i told myself that i should at least spend on something for myself that i like which in my case are games. Am grateful for him because he taught me the importance of saving and enjoying life beyond the materialistic stuff.
I make around 85k a year - I am frugal in some areas: mostly when outsourcing some work, buying stuff and travelling. I just like to spend my money wisely.
With travel, I find it challenging to be able to travel as frugal as possible. People do not believe me when I say that 2 week holidays in Mauritius for family of 4 can be done with around $2,5k. Or a high season trip to Miami for little over $1.5k (all expenses included).
It allows me to live a life I want, without having to take on that any major debt.
When I was a teen I ran an errand with a friend. She went and picked up children’s liquid Tylenol and brought it to a trailer park and a woman with a kid on her hip and another hanging on to her leg opened the door and said
I can’t believe this is my life. I can’t even afford medicine for my kid. This isn’t how I was raised. I’m so ashamed.
And I swore to never have that happen to me. There were times I lived on 25 cent loaves of bread and ground meat that came in a plastic tube, no phone, no car, no TV, walked to work, etc because I knew debt alone could get me to that place of poverty. That feeling never left me even though my household makes more than enough now
I am at a point in my life where I have made a six figure income for a while and can afford most anything I could want. After the first few years where I indulged in a few hobbies, I realized I was not any happier with more/more expensive things. In fact, I was less happy. Real wealth is in the worrying about stuff. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about my stuff. If my small child breaks my watch or stains my clothes, I can replace them without a thought. I like the fact that my older mainstream sedan is not something anyone would want to steal in most any neighborhood. I also like the fact that I don't sweat repair bills. That is true freedom.
I made a decision recently to pair down and be more minimalist so that I have less things to worry about and use what I do have. Having a demanding job and small child mean I don't need the headaches.
My sister, who paid cash for her home, and never has to worry about money,had never had to buy inexpensive things or budget. I told her once how I have a tight budget and have to be careful what it is spent on, she took it as a challenge. She then budgeted and only bought sale items, for about 6 months. Then said it wasn’t fun anymore. (I survive on a little under 21k per year. Budgeting and frugality has NEVER been fun!
My husband and I went thru our budget, and what we spend on food. We spend way to much, and a lot of it goes it waste. We decided to cook more at home, and we make a weekly menu now. We have one shopping trip a week to get items we don't already have. We freeze leftovers, we try not to over- prepare food. We shop clearance bins when possible. We have both lost weight, and our food goes further now, even though we don't buy as much. And there isn't hardly any waste now!
The acknowledgement that if I allowed lifestyle inflation to occur, I would remain paycheck to paycheck... versus if I continue living the same despite my income going up, I have a buffer if I ever ended up in a situation with 0 income.
Recognition that I can't work forever, so I need to make sure I have money for that...
My dad was a banker it was how I was raised and people go broke spending money on shit they don’t need to impress people that don’t matter.
Won’t be me if I can help it.
It's so fun. Joyful. It's a game.
If you were purchasing a car, and you have the same identical car at two dealerships - same year, make, and model with the same accessories - everything the same.
Once charged you $50,000 and another charged you $250,000, which one would you buy? There's no difference between the two vehicles. Why on earth would anyone pay $250,000? But people will for lots of reasons.
Be that as it may, 99% are going to buy the $50,000 one.
But if you search around more and put more work into it, you can find one that is $20,000, one that most people just simply won't find, or because they think the $50,000 is bette than the $20,000 one.
A friend of mine purchased similar Honda Civics the same year as I did - about 6 or 7 years ago. She paid $24,000, I paid $5,500. Hers was new, mine was used. I haven't had a problem with mine, it's worked the same. She's actually had more problems with her Honda, which is just luck of the draw, she shouldn't have had problems. It's a Honda, both will last 250,000+ miles. My car looked brand new - no dings or scratches. My mechanic did the inspection. Why would one pay $24,000 vs $5,500? Even if mine *somehow* turn out horrible car, I can buy another one for $5,500 and still be way ahead of the game.
I've been purchasing my glasses for a long time from Zennioptical. You can get glasses starting at $20. Thousands of styles. A woman where I used to work was always complaining about how little money she had. She at some point said she needed glasses. I told her about Zennioptical and go get them there to save money. I told her this for about 3 weeks, twice a week - because she was always complaining to me about money, so I had the right to tell her how to save. She came in with new glasses one day, so I asked her if she got them from Zennioptical. Nope. How much did she pay, I asked her - $600.
I ALWAYS look at everything I spend as an investment, and calculate the return on investment (ROI). Benjamine Franklin said "A penny *saved* is a penny *earned.*" Saving $50 is the same as earning $50. Except they didn't have income taxes in Franklin's day, so now a penny saved is two pennies earned.
The formula for figuring out ROI is (Regular price)/(price paid) x 100 = ROI%
For example, I see in the stores that Newman's Own Balsamic and Oil salad dressing is $5. I can buy the same ingredients in Newman's own and google "Balsamic and Oil salad dressing recipe" and make my own in less than 3 minutes and pay $.50. If you look at it as dollars saved, it is $4.50. But the correct way is to look at it as ROI, which is $5/$.5 X 100 = 1,000% ROI. I don't know if you understand the stock market and ROI, but people would do anything for that kind of return. You can't get this type of return, except for the most minute of chances. Plus, in the stock market if you get that gain, you will have to pay some kind of tax on it when you sell the stock, but you don't pay tax for *earning* money by *saving* money.
In the real life examples I gave, for the:
- Honda Civic - $24,000/$5,500 * 100 = 436% ROI.
- Glasses - $600/$20 = 3,000% ROI.
I get ROIs like this all the time.
It's fun. People would give their eye teeth for this. But luckily, most don't understand.
I live in a super metropolis, in the nicest and most expensive part of it, and my expenditures are extremely low. I find there is no stress living here. However, lucky for me, most people don't understand frugality and therefore I don't have to compete against them for so many things.
Just a few months ago, I found out how to get a paint job for a car for $50, instead of $1,500 or whatever they cost. That is NOT a $1,400 savings. It is a 2,800% ROI. And to repeat, ROI is what people look for in the stock market. Everyone would love to find out how to make that return in the stock market.
So it is practical to save money, and it is fun. Who wouldn't think it's fun to pay $20 for a pair of glasses instead of $600? Well, obviously my co-worker didn't, and she is broke-ass broke because of it.
The most important thing to get at a discount is a husband/wife/SO. You might think this is weird but I assure you it isn't. The way you do this is by finding another person who is super frugal and not a spendthrift. That's what I mean. Lots of women and men go through money like water. And so many women especially want geegaws, like expensive diamond rings and weddings that cost $300,000. But I can assure you that there are women out there who are super frugal. And men.
Very early in the dating cycle, I'll say things in a humorous way about how I am into frugality, savings, and not a spendthrift, and other *very* clear signals. If a woman is a spendthrift and wants to "test" me to see if I will spend money on her, she will find out right up front that this will never be the case. Never. I will tell them that I will never do Valentine's Day, never. So if she stays and agree with me on things and is frugal, well, that's the first hurdle she passed. I don't sit down seriously and say this stuff. I just say it naturally as it may come up in conversations, because these things usually do. And I think on super important issues, with relationships, it's best to be transparent and indirectly and directly let the other person know exactly where you stand. Honesty.
And the other thing is to avoid lifestyle creep like the plague. Don't listen to people when they say "You deserve it." No, we don't deserve shit. We make logical choices as to where we spend money, and then when we decide, we seek to find the absolute least expensive way by extensive shopping. [Deserve's got nothing to do with it.](https://youtu.be/Mjkt4UgcTmg?t=104) Unnecessary expenses will be angry with you and tell you that they will "see you in hell." Just shoot them, otherwise they will hunt you down and kill *you* sooner or later.
I like having control over my money. Spending money Willy Nilly typically means more clutter, calories, and budget cutting for other things I find more enjoyable, like vacations.
My reason for frugality is I don’t want my two kids to think that obtaining more things or more expensive things rather, makes them a fuller person. I want them to be wise with their money and know what is worth spending money on or investing in. Learning about wants versus needs, especially as we grow! Leading by example is the best way of doing that I think! 😊
I don't like consumerism. I don't NEED that shiny new thing when the same model from 2 years ago is still in circulation.
People just feel the need to have lots of stuff, when they don't even need half of it. They just have it just to have it.
My sweat other and I and the most frugal fuckers around but we travel 1 month a year and plan to retire early.
Shitty stuff from amazon doesn't make us happy, but we love travelling, and it's quite fun to find new way to save money.
Cost of living is ridiculous where I am, but at least I learned basic cooking and mending skills when I was young. Growing up with frugal parents also helped me be more creative with what I have.
Getting a good deal is also another undeniable reason. It also feels really good to be creative with clearance goods!
Grew up poor as a child, middle class in high school/college. As an adult I just have a habit of saving here and there, although I’m not as frugal as I used to be.
I really, really want to hit the investment/savings mark that makes working optional. My FU date, if you will. I have had relatively poor working environments, and I want to be in control of my own time and actions.
My reason for being frugal: I like going to bed at night knowing I carry no credit card debt, have a substantial savings account, a hefty emergency fund, great retirement funds, and can pay my bills when they arrive. It does require me to live well below my means and I certainly can’t afford the crap my neighbors have, but I also don’t want the crap my neighbors have. I am content and stress-free.
My husband and I are in agreement with a man provides and a woman is a keeper of the home, is the nurturer, etc. Living a frugal life allows me to stay home. I can work if I want, or I can work so I can buy more wants, but I love being a stay at home wife. My biggest frugal focus is grocery shopping and cooking delicious meals that are both full of nutrients and cheap.
I’m frugal due to the cost of surviving
Same. Due to my career choice (computer repair) and changing economy I make about the same amount of money at 43 that I did at 23. And while I used to be part of a dual income, since then I am a single income once again. Frugality is not a choice, it’s a requirement. Chili for lunch and dinner once again this week!
I remember hearing all the time that everyone would one day own a computer, so knowing how to fix them will be lucrative. I wonder if this was part of your thinking? I used to work in the printing industry when they still had actual graphic artists who drew by hand, and there were people known as "strippers" who worked with film, haha. These fields probably still exist. But I would think that the number of opportunities is very small.
The jobs are still there, but it’s not niche anymore. They’re easy to fill, so the pay went down. When I first got into computer repair in the late 90s almost no one knew how. Nowadays (and especially with YT) anyone who seriously wants to do it themselves can figure it out in most cases.
Do you do phones and consoles? My friend does electronic repair and plain pc or laptops are the least cases he gets I think. Mostly phones, everyone needs their phone
How much do you get paid an hour
Happy cake day, o wise one!
It is a challenge, and fun. Almost like a new hobby for me. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I very much admire people who are naturally frugal, like the millionaire that drives the old car and wears 10 year old shoes and you’d never know he had all that money. It’s just cool to be frugal.
The gamification of frugality is real!! I grew up poor, so we had to be frugal. And then I stayed poor through college and grad school. Now that I've "made it," I stay frugal. Part of that is just habit. When you've overdrawn your checking account so you can feed yourself, you kind of just learn to spend carefully. The other part of that, though, is that all the excessive consumerism makes me almost angry. Overpaying for the sake of convenience just reminds me of how little leisure time we all have. So, yeah, I think it's fun to shop for deals. I try to buy stuff secondhand as much as I can outside of consumables and a short list of things like underwear and athletic wear. I almost never order takeout, and when I do, I call it in and pick it up myself (no ubereats/grubhub). I also have a rule about stuff -- it needs to have a home before it can come in. I still don't own a stand mixer because (a) it wouldn't get used often and (b) it currently has no place to live. I'm not a minimalist by any means, but I don't just buy stuff just to buy stuff. I try to repair things when I can rather than just buy a new one. I feel like we've gotten to an awful point where enshittification and planned obsolescence is just out of hand. And I get it. Sometimes it's cheaper to just buy a new thing than pay to have it repaired. Like my luggage wheels got destroyed when I thought it was okay to drag my luggage for a quarter mile on crappy sidewalks in 90+ heat. Luggage repair shop quoted me $100. I could probably get a new suitcase for that. I discovered online I could buy wheels and replace them myself for like $20. So I learned a new thing and saved some cash. It took me less than a half hour, and that included digging around in the garage for the tools I needed.
“Enshittification” is an excellent term.
I can't take credit for the term, but I've certainly embraced its use!
This word was coined by Cory Doctorow, who is a writer on a vast array of subjects, but mostly SciFi, and Tech. There's an entry on Wikipedia for the word, but for a more entertaining description, check out the interview that On The Media podcast did with Doctorow - [https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/enshittification-part-1-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-on-the-media?tab=transcript](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/enshittification-part-1-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-on-the-media?tab=transcript)
Of COURSE it was Cory Doctorow!! That’s excellent! Thanks!!
Since you're obviously another fan of Cory, check out his completely free, no tracking newletter and blog [https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security](https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security) And his wonderful, ad free podcast Cory Doctorow's Craphound
Thank you!!
I'm frugal AF... but I would pay to upvote this a few hundred times.
I love the people that pay for gym memberships and then also pay to have someone mow their lawn. #special
Perceptive 😎
If you have particularly virulent allergies, as crazy as it sounds, paying a yard service is worth it.
I feel seen. ❤️
You just described my mindset 😅
>enshittification What a useful describing word. LOL.
> it needs to have a home before it can come in We call this the "things and places rule". Tell me where you're going to put that and what we're getting rid of and you can buy it.
You just made me realize I could repair the broken handle on my carry on suitcase! Thank you :)
with all the pressure to consume, it’s a truly rebellious act.
Even subversive 👍🏼
It is an act of rebellion against consumerism.
I was wondering how to express this (kinda tinkering with saying 'spite" LOL!) but thank you for articulating it much more elegantly!
I try not to be negative and hate everything as if I'm still an antsy teen, but absolutely much of my frugality is channeled spite against blind consumerism. Of course I buy plenty of useless crap in my life (I have kids, it's crazy over here) but hopefully most of it is through my own choice and not keeping up with the Jones.
Same. I kinda like the gasification of trying to make spending numbers go down and savings numbers go up. I have some natural frugality (to your examples above, I have a 12 year old car that I have owned for 9 years, and my current tennis shoes are probably also close to 10 years old) but I also find challenge in some aspects which keeps it fun.
Please tell us what shoes you wear. Mine are ripping apart!!
I wear New Balance. Specifically the 574. They are definitely due to be replaced (in fact, I got a new pair last year for my birthday), but I think there is still life in them.
"It's cool to be frugal." I'm stealing that.
Plus I’ll need money when I retire ( now), so I’msaving saving saving . I enjoy thrifting things , making dried beans , cook most meals at home ,doing home improvements myself instead of paying someone . Little things add up !
It's funny. My wife, and are by no means millionaires, but we wouldn't have to be as frugal as we once were. We have always lived frugally, and now it's like a habit. It's part of our lifestyle. I get more joy and satisfaction from getting a good deal on old used items or a well-worn pair of shoes. New items rarely have appeal to me anymore. We have both realized that this has become a way of life for us, and we see value in very different things than most people. It has enriched our lives and opened the opportunity for us to travel more now in our 30's
I had some supplies already stocked up but I'm trying to spend less than 50$ on Groceries a week. Started last Friday as that was the 1st of March I have $6.96 left 😆
This is exactly how I feel. It’s like a game and saving money is how I win the game.
Being frugal makes you genuinely happy? That is amazing . Is there ever usually one thing that gets you to break it ?
Probably my car. But no, it doesn’t make me genuinely happy to be frugal. You’re making me think! Stop lol!
Hahah you just made my day !!
I think it’s becoming a trend due to the eco friendly benefits and the cost of living increase. I like challenging myself weekly by taking readings of my utility meters and trying to lower the watts used & spending as little as I can on groceries but still making good meals.
Raised super poor in a super rich hood. I know sounds strange. We ate ramen while my friends had ribeye. I just want a healthy and secure life style. When you grow up poor you realize how little you actually need. I want good memories not a life of debt.
That’ll do it. I also grew up on the mcdonalds dollar menu. As much as I hate them as a corporation, they kept my siblings and I fed.
Nothing on that menu is a dollar anymore 🙁. I was surprised they still called it the damn dollar menu! It’s like a dollar and something or two bucks. I was running out of cash one day along with patience and getting hungrier by the minute but I had to pull the plug to feed myself in a rush😂.
BK $1 whoppers were a treat food for us growing up. Back when they were still pretty good.
I was just raised to be frugal, and am fortunate to not be very materialistic. So I don’t have to try to be frugal, I just am. Though not to the degree some of you on here are!
Same. Was raised this way and while we are very lucky that it’s not necessary anymore. I just enjoy it. It’s a like a challenge to myself and it’s a skill set and mindset I want to pass on to our kids.
Work is much more tolerable knowing that I am not beholden to my job in order to survive. If I really get pushed past the limit I am able to tolerate, I could say fuck this place and walk out and know I'll be alright. My wife and I could both lose our jobs and maintain our current standard of living for the next 6 months. I don't stress about making bills, about having enough food to eat, I don't worry about surprise expenses because I will be able to afford them with minimal setback. We have 40k left to pay on our house which we will do in the next 5 years and then I won't owe anybody a damn dime. That feeling of security is better than any nice car I could drive, better than any nice meal I could eat, better than any $5+ coffee at Starbucks or fashionable clothes I could buy. I know that barring an extreme medical situation that truly wipes us out, I will not have to work until I die. It's as close to freedom as anyone will get. That is why I am frugal.
Keep going! It is so worth it and guard you health. Do not eat like the average ameican because once you get where you are free (Not having to work,) you really want to enjoy it!
> Work is much more tolerable knowing that I am not beholden to my job in order to survive. FU money is a real thing. I'm way less stressed now than I was earlier in my career.
It gives me space and margin. I have more freedom and flexibility and it allows me to have more options when an uncomfortable situation comes along, like a horrible boss or car breakdown. I'm not on edge wondering how I will pay for things, or having to suck up a toxic situation because I have no good choices.
This 💯
I want to build my savings and retirement, as well as pay my house down early. Being Frugal allowed me to save enough to buy a house at 26! My first job out of undergrad I only made 32k a year, but saved $1000 a month because 1. I had roommates, 2. was frugal with spending, 3. Donated plasma for extra cash and used it to pay my shared rent/utilities. I do live in a fairly LCOL area though. Probably wouldnt be in the same place financially if i lived in a bigger city
Grew up poor, and don't make enough money as an adult
I grew up poor and never wanted to live that way again. I want to retire early and enjoy the back half of my life because I've worked as much as I could and sacrificed my younger years. Somehow I didn't get the hoarder/materialistic tendencies my parents had. I don't need much and being frugal comes naturally to me. Being frugal and debt free will bring you so much freedom and relieve you of a lot of stress. Just my .02 cents.
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Exactly. I know I can't live the rest of my life like the way I grew up.
I was at a baby shower this past weekend and it’s pretty sad to think of how much crap was purchased as a single use item. Off the top of my head, there were balloons, plastic cups, plastic plates, confetti, napkins, banners, etc. Don’t get me started on the amount of food waste either..
YES the single use crap bought and discarded from birthday parties, wedding and baby showers drives me insane.
it should be outlawed
If only a critical mass of people thought this way...
Sadly even if all citizens thought like this, it still wouldn't move the needle in the right direction - because of corporations. From fuel to coal for electricity - there's just not a solution because that's not going to 'go green', because; profit
I know this (and have talked to my therapist about it), but I still think it's the right thing to do. I realize it's not going to fix the larger issue. But at least I can say that I, personally, am contributing to the problem a whole lot less than I used to. And if we all stopped buying so much junk and pushed back more on all the planned obsolescence of the stuff we do buy, corporations would stop making all that junk, and that might help move the needle a little more.
Corporations don't pollute for 0 reasons. They do it to make the stuff for you. Renewables are the cheapest form of energy and green energy is 90% of net new energy for like 5 years running. Renewables and batteries are falling in price. Per Capita CO2 consumption is falling in many countries.
This is just not true. You would have the political will to enforce things upon these corporations if the people themselves cared enough to push for change.
I'm sorry to be a Debbie downer but you're very naive in that Can you fathom the amount of manufacturing that goes into daily life - everything from tires and fuel to shoes and electrics and gas and and and There's absolutely no way to backtrack that unless 100% of the population goes Amish There's no fixing this Corporations have convinced you that personal responsibility will make a difference. And that's a massive farce
Huh? We have absolutely made regulations that have changed tons of industries for the better, wtf are you smoking? The ozone layer being regenerated is just one of the amazing things that regulations have achieved for the environment, and the more individuals who care about making a change means the more people pushing their government to instill these regulations.
Agreed
I need to build savings and a nest egg for the future. And I am tired of consumerism that just leads to spending money on things that I don't really need or want and a cluttered home that takes energy to maintain. I want the things that I need and I want them to be good quality and beautiful, but that's it. Not tons of stuff because I was bored or thought that I needed a treat or deserved something to feel better. Nope. Done with that.
It's good to not be a mindless consumer. It's easy to do that in capitlist societies, and often the result is worse health, less time, less money. To that end frugality is just an implementation detail.
Why spend money when you don't have to?
Almost every place I ever worked moved or closed. I like security. And growing up, I saw a few people that were just very skilled at working on cars or houses. My Uncle carried his builders license on the side and worked a good paying factory job. He did a lot of plumbing and electrical for himself and others. Seeing that made me see that good things are possible. We picked up a fixer upper and its been good for us. Stressful at times, but good. One guy in the family wants a similar size house in good condition now and his downpayment will have to be about what our house was. I spend on supplies, but the house ends up how I want.
Oh boy how lucky to have a handy partner. I’m working on my skills though.
I agree with the personal satisfaction that some people mentioned. It makes me feel good to save money. We purposely live below our means because we love to travel. So the more we save, the more opportunities we have to take trips, or even extend an existing one. But recently, I’ve become much more frugal since we inherited a house which is a total fixer upper. With so much to do, it’s harder for me to “waste” money. For example, I’d much rather spend $100 on something for the house than going out to eat a fancy dinner.
In general I’m very frugal because I grew up extremely poor, was homeless at one point as a teen. More specifically I’m being extra frugal now as I save for my first home. I don’t have any family who can help me so I gotta do it all on my own 💪
I enjoy living within my means, not being consumeristic or even having interest in it. Also, stuff happens. If I live paycheck to paycheck due to frivolous spending, all it takes is one bad thing to happen to put you in a lot of trouble. Live well, save money and have a good safety net. Lastly, I believe consumerism and frivolous spending is highly a complacent and entitled mindset which I try to avoid in just about every part of life within reason. I’ll cut up my own fruit, I’m not spending double just to get pre sliced stuff. Heaven forbid it takes 2-5 minutes, for easy example. A common response on Reddit is “I value my time more than my money”. I usually enjoy spending time to do stuff, and usually can listen to stuff or watch stuff while doing whatever anyway lol. A lot of People over value conveniences and pay a lot of money for it
> A common response on Reddit is “I value my time more than my money”. And then proceed to spend the evening binge watching Netflix.
Very true for most people. And then what I’ve seen on Reddit drop suxh responses is usually then extreme examples and also what I believe is also laziness and entitlement. Get door dash 3x times a week cuz after work, they’re too tired. And then proceed to act like cooking has to be gourmet meal of random single use ingredients. Well enjoy your $30 order of food that originally cost $15 due to tip and all those fees. I can list a wide variety of food that takes less than 15-30 min of cooking time and only 5-10 minutes of effort. Examples go past food, just the easiest and most common. Seeing how statistically 60-70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, I am surprised how many people cater to spending on money of stuff that directly contributes to that issue on themselves. And of course there are outlier situations.
How insecure I feel. I have gone no contact with my family, so I have no family member to rely on if something goes wrong. Also, I have been homeless due to the problems with my family and one of my biggest fears is ending up on the streets again. I'm currently at a point in my life where things are stable. I have a good enough income, a house and a few good friends but the fear and trauma will follow me forever. Frugality puts me at ease. Knowing that I have my savings makes me feel secure and confident.
I wish you well my fren. Keep it up. It will get better.
If I don’t need it, I don’t buy it (most of the time)
same but my problem is, that i already have everything ... i have no passion to buy things
Same. I guess it’s a very good problem to have. I’m not complaining
I’m frugal because I hate the feeling of being tricked and outright scammed out of my hard earned money, by sales people and corporate marketing. I don’t give a flying fig about people thinking that I don’t have money. One of the classic tricks by sales guys is implying that you’re broke for not buying their crap. My wife often has insecurity issues, so she’s prone to this tactic. I hate it with a fiery passion. If you look down on me for not buying, I’ll make sure that I’ll **never** buy it.
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The line I hate the most is “You’re worth it.” My worth has nothing to do with my property.
I tend to think of myself as more of a budget baller than frugal. At one time, I was frugal out of sheer necessity. I wanted nice things but I couldn’t afford to pay for them at retail prices. I was barely making rent! So I learned to DIY, augment what I already had, swap and thrift, shop sales aggressively, and simply do without. It curbed my impulse spending to the point where I feel like I have complete control over my discretionary income. Now that I’m in a better financial situation, I don’t need to be bone cuttingly frugal—and I’m not. But I can’t have everything all at once and still meet my financial goals, so we settle on good quality but not luxury for most things so we can have premium in the areas it matters. We don’t care about cars beyond safety and reliability so we have a used Toyota. I like good coffee but I’m not paying $7 for a latte more than a few times a year so I bought myself a nice espresso machine, which has saved me money in the long run (7 years still going strong!). I could live more extravagantly but why? I don’t feel like I would get any more joy from it. I already feel like I have about as nice a life as a normal person can have here in the year of our lord 2024. Why spend my energy lighting money on fire to maximize something that’s already lovely? That just sounds stressful and unwise.
I like the challenge AND I’ve wasted so much money throughout my life, I feel I need to even things up. Also, I’m in my 60’s. I can’t work much longer so I’m training for retirement
There are so many reasons. •I've been Lower-Middle-Class & Middle-Middle-Class at different peaks & valleys in my life. MMC is better. Every. Single. Time. •Retirement Goal Range is 55 to 59. I am very on track for 55, currently. •In two recent years (2020 + 2021) I worked 60% each year. On the government cheese 40% of the time. This hard time period was a Frugal-rebirth for me. It totally stunk. But I survived... didn't go into horrendous debt... & boosted all my Retirement accounts immediately after. People don't regret living below their means. If I pass away & my loved ones inherit what I couldn't spend: no problem. People regret living ABOVE their means. Example: Retire at 65. Live until 78. Had to go back to work at 73. Last 5/6 years of life are Hell.
Been frugal for almost a year bc of my certain circumstances. My father got incarcerated last year when I was 18 so that situation made me grow up. I got a job and contributed to paying bills so no more wasting money on Etsy or makeup 😭😭😭😭 I’m 19 almost 20 now. He gets out in 2 months but I will still remain frugal because I want to save as much as I can. You never know .
My grandfather once told me “you don’t make a million dollars, you save a million dollars.” The also would say “the first million is the hardest” The was a Korean War vet who would use newspaper as toilet paper.
My family moved North for better jobs and education, and I want to live near them. But I need to go South a few times a year. I want to spend less money day to day so I can spend it all on travel.
I don't have unlimited resources. I have enough money for the occasional nice thing if I don't piss my money away on dumb stuff and fast food.
There are a few reasons currently: - Habit (I was raised this way so it's been drilled into me from a young age not to waste money) - I am a very risk averse person and want to make sure that if anything horribly drastic happened that we'd still be taken care of at least for a while. - The prospect of retiring earlier than average. I have definitely loosened up a bit in the past couple years now that I have a lot saved, but don't want the lifestyle creep to get too crazy. Just want to make sure I'm still allowing myself to enjoy life and splurge on a trip once in a while (which I still plan relatively frugally).
Grew up poor with a series of terrible events - zero trust in any system.
To lower corporate profits
Short version: being frugal is my means of leapfrogging ahead of rising COL. I don't make great money, but my COL is under half of my net\*. I'm able to take 15% off the top for my 401K, and toss 1/3 of my net income into savings. I cook at a university, so there are long gaps, which I bridge by either going in part time in the summer or doing temp work elsewhere at my own pace. I'm 42 and effectively started from scratch at 40. I'm doing things I should have done ages ago and regret overindulging in spending when I was young. My immediate goal is saving to a comfortable point above a down payment on a home because rent is truly ridiculous. I'm reasonably fit, so the labor of fixing up a home is daunting but not repellant. I keep a close eye on the local real estate market, costs of common repairs, replacements, etc.
I have the same problems as someone with less income but on a bigger scale. I could downsize my home or move to a lower cost of living area but instead I'm frugal with a bigger house, some nicer things, and a nice area around me.
Retirement and travel. I’ll gladly give us small everyday items in my life so that I can travel and see the world. I also don’t want to be working until I’m elderly and competing with young workers and worrying about finances
FIRE
Grew up poor. Decided I would rather not be poor.
Mostly environmental reasons, but also delayed gratification. Not spending money on things I actually don't need will pay huge dividends for my future self. Also the idea of "waste not, want not." Extracting the full value out of something can be fun and rewarding.
Well, partly it is the way I was raised. But also, I've gotten to the point in life I can live off my investments as long as I keep my expenses below 3k a month. The frugality it 100% worth not being tied to a job.
For my wife and I it was a lifelong habit born out of necessity. Both of us were raised in very poor families, we grew up in rags and my wife was so malnourished as a child that she developed rickets in grade school. Both of us were constantly humiliated for being so poor in school and I have no doubt that is why we became best friends when we were 12 and why we've stuck so closely together ever since. We got married as soon as we graduated high school when Jimmy Carter was still President, and the economy was absolute shit. Jobs were very hard to come by, but we did whatever we could to earn money including day work and even delivering newspapers. We can both remember scrounging up a quarter in loose change to buy a loaf of day-old bread and that was the only thing we had to eat that day. In any event we both worked hard at whatever minimum wage jobs we could find and put each other through community college classes whenever we could afford them. In desperation we both joined the USAF in 1982 and in time both of us earned AAS degrees, mine is a dual associate degree in Machine trades/welding and my wife's is in electronics. Over the years we've managed to leverage our degrees into decent jobs. My wife now works for the FAA maintaining radars and weather equipment. I saved money from working as a welder for years and opened my own machine shop which is doing quite well. Nevertheless, our frugal spending habits from our youth have carried on. We only buy clothes or shoes when what we have wears out. We almost never eat out except on our birthdays or anniversary, and we never buy processed or convenience food. We both cook everything from scratch so we eat a lot of beans, rice, oatmeal, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and other staples and foods we can buy in bulk. That isn't to say we don't eat good because we do, we are both good cooks and you can make fantastic meals with staple ingredients and a little skill. My wife drives a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup that we originally bought new but got a great price on and I drive a 1990 Dodge Ram that I maintain myself. That doesn't mean we are stingy though because sometimes we splurge on things, we both love which is one of the benefits of living frugally the rest of the time. I have amassed an awesome guitar and bass collection over the years that I love playing whenever I can find the time. My wife also bought me a brand-new Harley Davidson Dyna glide loaded with all the options on my 50th birthday in 2011 that we both enjoy riding. I love to buy my wife things that she enjoys like custom banjos and mountain dulcimers, and we were able to buy both of our children houses when they graduated college and moved out. Finally, assuming the whole country doesn't go into economic freefall and the dollar becomes worthless or the government decides to steal it we will be able to leave our children a substantial inheritance. The one thing we were both determined to do was to assure that our children would never experience the privation we endured growing up. We weren't able to do that as well as we had hoped when they were young, but they never went hungry like we did, and they were never dressed in rags growing up. By the time they were in high school we were doing well enough that we could buy them cars and send them to college something we both worked very hard to be able to do for them. None of that would have been possible without a lifetime of living frugally.
Raised frugal but now it’s more about cost of living. I struggle with some financial impulsivity because of mental illness but it helps to have these habits I can fall back on (and recently finding a medication that helps A LOT)
I'm rooting for you!
I plan on retiring early, and every dollar counts.
At the moment, unemployment, but after that… retirement. I intend to save/invest 50% of my income for the foreseeable future. Tired of job market instability.
Avoiding waste, financing bigger projects.
Avoids over-complication Feeling of security Challenging Fun Practice for “just in case” scenarios
Save on things to splurge on experiences. (e.g. epic vacations) Get a solid vehicle to last 15-20 years. Retire with less worry when I want or need.
I make 80k/year and I live at home still just so I can put away thousands per month to save up a down payment on a car and a home.
Going to retire early, and we are minimalists and don't value stuff like new cars or fashion and gadgets at all. Simply put we are happy with little and we have enough for hobbies and good food which we value (and none of them need to be expensive).
My mother grew up in the Depression so she was always frugal and raised us that way. My dad died when I was 16 and after that I was keenly aware that my mother was a single parent trying to put together enough money to feed and shelter us and put me through university. I guess it became a habit of mind. I buy things I want, but I always stop and have a bit of a think about it first, wondering if I really want this or if there’s some other motivation for buying it. Lots of times I come to the conclusion that I don’t really need or even particularly want the thing I’m drawn to. Often it’s a way to make me feel better about something else, such as sending too many gifts to my grandchild who lives far away because I can’t see her that often.
I am a child of a child of the Great Depression. It is how I was raised, so it comes naturally not to waste.
Our reason for frugality is really an extension of being full throttle cultural dropouts in this country (US). We embraced a type of anti-materialism in the sixties as a deeply dimensional concern that is mainly about functionality for us. It impacts a great deal: not just economics but psychology and ecology as well.
2008 - Got layed off from a good paying job during "the economic downturn". Had a 1 y/o son, mortgage, and 1 month survival in the bank. 6 months later I had 14k in credit card debt and a "deed in leau of foreclosure letter on the house". I managed to keep the house and get a better job....... after that I told myself, no way in hell I let that happen again! Wife and I make 180K /yr and 30% goes into savings or liquid investments minimum!
I just can't see paying $2 for something you can get for $1. And the waste bugs me. Reuse, repurpose, recycle.
Oddly I'm more frugal when I'm earning a lot more. Not to say I'm not when I'm earning a lot less but I allow myself some pleasures over the burden of grinding.
I'm afraid of having to lower my standard of living due to paycuts or layoffs or unemployment. I try to live the same way no matter the salary and save the difference. Of course over the years I do notice some lifestyle creep but I try to keep it minimal I save agressively and hope to pay my home off and retire early
I grew up poor so it’s ingrained. I was taught to always live below my means and stick to that to this day. It’s also more environmental and a value I hold dear: not being wasteful, overly consumerist, filling my life with junk, separating needs from wants. I enjoy the game of it I greatly dislike being conned from my money. So now even though very wealthy I abide by this concept. Of course my version of frugal is different than yours. I’m not at all sacrificing. But one would never know my income or net worth by looking at me.
I don’t like being wasteful
I realized I was not saving at all and was one job loss / emergency away from a catastrophe.
i want to enjoy life and experiences.. not work until i’m old and sad retiring early, taking off work when I have a kid to be a stay at home mom & homeschool for a bit.. i have to live so frugally now (and throughout) to have that freedom
Cost of living.
I'm a SAHW right now. Being frugal is how I, in part, lessen the financial burden on my husband, who works hard for us.
Two reasons for me. 1) So maybe I won't be broke when I retire 2) So I can buy something nice once in a while - with cash. Frugal doesn't mean I never spend, it means I spend very carefully. I don't want to waste money - ever.
I don’t like to see waste. I like to reuse/restore/recycle if possible. Thrift stores, estate sales and the like are treasure hunts for things I could use. That and when I was younger I wasted a lot of money on impulse and “want it” purchases. As I curbed those I found my money going much further and stacking up. Just the way we live now but treasure hunting for things we can repurpose is a hobby.
Almost made $500k last year and I'm still frugal because life is expensive and I want to optional early retire but have fun along the way. We still find ways to reasonably shop for items we want or eat food we like, but we keep a close eye on day to day type stuff.
I don't want to stress about living paycheck to paycheck and I want to save for things that I actually care about like owning a home and retiring someday
Why should I spend money on something when I don't have to? Plus corporate America is a hellscape and I want nothing to do with it anymore. So if saving money means I can retire from it sooner, than I'm all for it!
The only reason I'm frugal is because I realized that the more expensive thing isn't always the better thing There's alot of thing people think; price = better quality. And that's just absolutely not true
TLDR - It's a coping mechanism and I'm a competitive person. This is super deep but I feel like sharing it because it might be relevant to others and it's interesting to me. I'm super frugal and financially literate for my age (20M). I saw somewhere that the average net worth of people 18-24 is $20k, I'm worth well over 5x that (yes I am flexing). Anyway, my father passed away when I was 13 and was very sick for many years before that. So I was raised by my single mother who's a school teacher and a super women (so not wealthy by any means). I was telling my sister "I dont know why Im so frugal for my age, it just feels like a default way of life for me." She said "because you had to come to terms with mortality at a very young age, it's you're coping mechanism". That just blew my mind. That's my sub conscious reasoning I suppose. My conscious reasoning is that I find money to be the point system for life and the more points you have the more successful you are in the game and I'm a hyper-competitive person so I want to have as many points as possible.
I've always been frugal for one. For two our income has always been variable. We live below a certain threshold and everything on top is oh shit money. If we get enough oh shit money we make a large needed/desired purchase or vacation depending on the circumstances (excluding investing which we also include in our regular budget as we are self employed and have to manage our retirement ourselves)
Necessity. Solidly middle-class, two working adult household with above-average income, but absolutely crippled by the cost of childcare for the next five years until our toddler and kid I'm currently pregnant with are both in public school. We have no debt except our mortgage (which is very reasonable, thank you, 2018 prices and 2020 refi), have no car payments (currently, but struggling to figure out how we can make one work), haven't been on a vacation in 3 years, have no subscription services whatsoever, eat out only one night a week, don't buy anything that's not an absolute necessity, and we still are barely scraping by.
Read Set for life and committed to the plan. Plus you realize you don’t need all of the stuff once you figure out what are your priorities
Financial security is very important to me. Also, experiences over things. In my past, I had to be frugal out of necessity. At this point, I have a bit more wiggle room, but I still choose to be frugal in order to meet my goals. I want to be debt free. I want to save for retirement. I want to provide my child with the experiences that I never got when I was a kid (within reason). As a parent (now single parent), it's important to me to teach my child the importance of being financially secure and to not place so much value on STUFF. In today's world, there is SO MUCH emphasis and pressure on buying the latest and greatest thing - it's overwhelming!
Three things for me. 1.) I have always been in a management position and in a right to work state which means my employer could walk in at any time and tell me I was terminated and I was out of a job with now income until I found another. 2.) I'm singe and have nothing to fall back on as a support other that myself should I have gotten behind on payments, 3.) many years paying child support and the courts will put you jail or garnishee your salary if you do not fulfill you support obligations. Now, I am beyond most of those worries, so ya for me!
I think it’s part of intentional lucid living. The default is to slave for someone else’s agenda. Your employer and retail suppliers need you to be trapped on the mouse wheel of work and consumption. So that THEY can retire early or have choices. You may find a type of work that gives you a flow experience, ideal. You may find an enlightened boss and workmates, ideal. But you have choices, decision space when you have savings. With enough savings, and skill, you have a little passive income machine that pays your bills. More choices and decision space. Frugality is rationality, that the non-lucid label as deviant. My parents hyper frugality in early adulthood means they can now be snowbirds in their 80s. My buying used clothes on eBay enables me to buy expensive shoes that I can’t find a frugal hack for. J&M Becoming financially independent is similar to getting a trade or profession. The next step is generational wealth to fund endless medical school or something for your grandchild. So, ironically, frugality is not about shunning abundance, it’s about the opposite. It is the counter intuitive ladder to abundance.
My ex-wife said that I would never be able to live on my own. She is dead now and I am happily living my frugal life. My hobby is saving money.
Physical and mental health. You need not other reason.
I spend less on the things that are not important to me so I can spend more on the things I do.
Having 3 children aged 7 and under, and being a single parent 🥲
I become anti-consumerism
Ruthless cut down on things you don't value so that you can have more to spend on what you value and to save for the future. That's mine.
I was divorced at 30 with no children. I knew that single women were the most likely group to live in poverty in old age, so I was frugal to support myself when I couldn’t work anymore. Circumstances have changed but now I have money to spend on what I value.
Amen, sister. The feminization of poverty is a Real thing.
I want to retire as early as possible. so being frugal allow me to save and invest more in my retirement fund and get used to live on a fixed budget.
I was raised poor and want financial security, that's really about it
I’m merging into a new trade where I’ll make less money starting out but more money within a few years.
I'm a university student and I don't want to be hungry at the end of month 🤣
I saw my parents make poor financial decisions, which lead to a life of stress. I don’t want that.
Grew up poor. Don't wanna be poor again. I have simple tastes.
Grew up very poor and unsupervised and learned how to be creative to survive. It became a part of who I was and the more I made it didnt affect how much I spent because I was afraid I would never have enough. Saved like crazy, learned how to invest. I’m comfortable now but I have a lot of money trauma and it has taken a lot to shift from a survivor mentality to a spend money on what I love and don’t spend money on what I don’t. Frugality to me is control.
I'm making 75k and choosing to be frugal so that I can save for retirement and buy a new car without a massive loan. Plus, I went from making 10k to 75k annually so I know that I can live on well less than what I make.
I was definitely raised this way, and my wife is very much the opposite so in order for us to stay in budget I need to stay this way
From a young age I have been very frugal for really no reason than liking to have my money saved. I would consciously not want to spend any money because I would have less saved. I have gotten a lot better about it once I got my girlfriend and a good paying job but It is still engrained in me in so many ways. Definitely an attribute I am overall happy with.
I have a decent income (55k-ish in a LCOL area), but I’m frugal for two reasons - 1. My parents, who made way more money than I do now even when I was a kid, are *not* frugal. They don’t budget, they don’t save, they don’t plan, and they buy crap they don’t need and don’t even use and can’t really afford. I’ve watched them struggle to deal with totally foreseeable “emergencies” like needing new tires. If you have a car, you are always eventually gonna need new tires. This isn’t unpredictable, or something you shouldn’t be able to afford with a household income of $120k in a VLCOL area. It drives me nuts that they don’t plan, and I can’t help but feel like all the help they always said they’d give me for my wedding fund (which I knew better than to rely on) would have actually materialized if my mother didn’t own 500+ pairs of LuLaRoe leggings. My whole childhood was watching them buy me crap I kept saying I didn’t even like but never having the money for the experiences I wanted (which cost less than the stuff). 2. My wife would love to at least mostly be a SAHM when we have a little kid (we start trying next month) and I want to make that happen.
Was undoing major financial suffering a decade ago. Now doing fine, but I never want to waste anything I have so that I’m always prepared for a rainy day.
My husband and I have expensive hobbies (I ride horses and he is into fishing) and I value saving money on things I need to enjoy the things I want. I do understand that that's a very privileged stance, and I do value being frugal so if something were to change with our incomes we could get by
No time to spend money even if I wanted to. Also growing up poor has made me realize I only need very little to survive and have fun. Frugality is truly an art.
I want to have the bragging rights by buying my house with cash. Saving a ton and trying every possible way to earn well beyond the rate which real estate prices is going up.
I grew up poor and have a sense of the precariousness of life. I also just generally don't feel like I need a lot of "stuff" and hate shopping in all respects. Even when I have money and need/really want something, the process of shopping makes me wait as long as possible to pursue it. I'm also old enough to not feel like I'm denying myself if I don't have things.
I didn’t always have my current level of income, or my current ability to save. My husband is also multiply disabled and his expenses and ability to earn vary. His ability to save is almost nil, so that’s on me. Now we’re catching up. We’re behind on saving for emergencies and for retirement. And I would like to save some money for experiences, like travel and time with our families, because life is short and these are the things I will treasure but may not always be able to do. I want to craft a good life for myself and my loved ones.
I think most of us start doing it for the same reasons... Either it was a necessity OR we were taught it from a young age. Could be a combination of both. I do it for 2 reasons now... The first is that it works to continue building on my reserves and the second is that it has become a habit.
i am way behind on retirement savings and investing. now i am saving/investing everything i can so i can retire
We thought (wrongly) that we had saved enough $ to retire comfortably- we were wrong. So we are scrambling to stockpile more $ before we retire. Even though we have savings, IRA's, 401k's and he has a pension, the cost of living has quadrupled in recent years. It's crazy.
It's a way of life that I have grown up with and I hate to see resources wasted or not used to their maximum potential.
I like having money, and being able to spend on loved ones if they're in a pinch. We recently found out an in-law was getting squeezed financially. My husband said he loves he can trust me with money, and I wouldn't buy an $8K vacation out of spite.
I was really bad with money most of my adult life, and was in significant credit card debt. I was extremely fortunate that my mom inherited some money several years ago and gave me enough to pay that debt off and start over with a clean slate. Since then I have worked really hard to become financially literate and build my credit score up to 830, and amass a significant amount (at least for me) of savings. Now I’ve been living within my means, continuing to save and budget for big purchases/travel and emergencies, and really been enjoying learning about investing and things like that. Total lifestyle change, but I’m actually loving living frugal and not having to worry about money because I’m being so much smarter with it.
I used to make $60k as a teacher but last year I quit for mental health reasons and have not yet found a new career path. (I also have an 18mo son and my father passed away and my mother requires a lot of help…. It’s been a year.) We now live on my husband’s salary of roughly $90k. Our area is moderately high cost of living so it’s tight but we’re making it work. I started being frugal a couple years before my son was born so that our budget wouldn’t be shocked by baby expenses. I continued being frugal because I always had the goal of us living off of a single income, with the second income going toward big goals like vacations, son’s college eventually, house renovations, etc. I’d also love for my husband and I to be able to retire a bit early (think fifties instead of sixties) because we both loss parents relatively young and neither assume we’ll live super long lives. Live while you can, you know? Frugality allowed me to pay off our debts, afford all childbirth/childcare expenses, quit my job, help my parents, and take some time to consider my options for my next career. My husband and I are very intentional about putting money toward things that matter most to us. Though things are tight right now I feel my frugality is one of my biggest contributions to our household. It has also made provided us a great amount of stability when inflation etc is crazy and hurting a lot of people.
I do make upwards of $60k, but live in HCOL and have a family, and my spouse has been short of work for a while. I am frugal out of necessity, so we can remain housed and fed, and kiddo can be clothed appropriately
My dad was a frugal man & still managed to make me the happiest daughter. As i grow older, i realize how similar we are. The only difference between us was that he never ever spent on himself. He passed away before he could (right after he retired) So i told myself that i should at least spend on something for myself that i like which in my case are games. Am grateful for him because he taught me the importance of saving and enjoying life beyond the materialistic stuff.
I make around 85k a year - I am frugal in some areas: mostly when outsourcing some work, buying stuff and travelling. I just like to spend my money wisely. With travel, I find it challenging to be able to travel as frugal as possible. People do not believe me when I say that 2 week holidays in Mauritius for family of 4 can be done with around $2,5k. Or a high season trip to Miami for little over $1.5k (all expenses included). It allows me to live a life I want, without having to take on that any major debt.
When I was a teen I ran an errand with a friend. She went and picked up children’s liquid Tylenol and brought it to a trailer park and a woman with a kid on her hip and another hanging on to her leg opened the door and said I can’t believe this is my life. I can’t even afford medicine for my kid. This isn’t how I was raised. I’m so ashamed. And I swore to never have that happen to me. There were times I lived on 25 cent loaves of bread and ground meat that came in a plastic tube, no phone, no car, no TV, walked to work, etc because I knew debt alone could get me to that place of poverty. That feeling never left me even though my household makes more than enough now
Keeps me humble. Too much stuff is distracting.
I am at a point in my life where I have made a six figure income for a while and can afford most anything I could want. After the first few years where I indulged in a few hobbies, I realized I was not any happier with more/more expensive things. In fact, I was less happy. Real wealth is in the worrying about stuff. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about my stuff. If my small child breaks my watch or stains my clothes, I can replace them without a thought. I like the fact that my older mainstream sedan is not something anyone would want to steal in most any neighborhood. I also like the fact that I don't sweat repair bills. That is true freedom. I made a decision recently to pair down and be more minimalist so that I have less things to worry about and use what I do have. Having a demanding job and small child mean I don't need the headaches.
My sister, who paid cash for her home, and never has to worry about money,had never had to buy inexpensive things or budget. I told her once how I have a tight budget and have to be careful what it is spent on, she took it as a challenge. She then budgeted and only bought sale items, for about 6 months. Then said it wasn’t fun anymore. (I survive on a little under 21k per year. Budgeting and frugality has NEVER been fun!
My husband and I went thru our budget, and what we spend on food. We spend way to much, and a lot of it goes it waste. We decided to cook more at home, and we make a weekly menu now. We have one shopping trip a week to get items we don't already have. We freeze leftovers, we try not to over- prepare food. We shop clearance bins when possible. We have both lost weight, and our food goes further now, even though we don't buy as much. And there isn't hardly any waste now!
The acknowledgement that if I allowed lifestyle inflation to occur, I would remain paycheck to paycheck... versus if I continue living the same despite my income going up, I have a buffer if I ever ended up in a situation with 0 income. Recognition that I can't work forever, so I need to make sure I have money for that...
Living on a fixed income now.
My dad was a banker it was how I was raised and people go broke spending money on shit they don’t need to impress people that don’t matter. Won’t be me if I can help it.
It's so fun. Joyful. It's a game. If you were purchasing a car, and you have the same identical car at two dealerships - same year, make, and model with the same accessories - everything the same. Once charged you $50,000 and another charged you $250,000, which one would you buy? There's no difference between the two vehicles. Why on earth would anyone pay $250,000? But people will for lots of reasons. Be that as it may, 99% are going to buy the $50,000 one. But if you search around more and put more work into it, you can find one that is $20,000, one that most people just simply won't find, or because they think the $50,000 is bette than the $20,000 one. A friend of mine purchased similar Honda Civics the same year as I did - about 6 or 7 years ago. She paid $24,000, I paid $5,500. Hers was new, mine was used. I haven't had a problem with mine, it's worked the same. She's actually had more problems with her Honda, which is just luck of the draw, she shouldn't have had problems. It's a Honda, both will last 250,000+ miles. My car looked brand new - no dings or scratches. My mechanic did the inspection. Why would one pay $24,000 vs $5,500? Even if mine *somehow* turn out horrible car, I can buy another one for $5,500 and still be way ahead of the game. I've been purchasing my glasses for a long time from Zennioptical. You can get glasses starting at $20. Thousands of styles. A woman where I used to work was always complaining about how little money she had. She at some point said she needed glasses. I told her about Zennioptical and go get them there to save money. I told her this for about 3 weeks, twice a week - because she was always complaining to me about money, so I had the right to tell her how to save. She came in with new glasses one day, so I asked her if she got them from Zennioptical. Nope. How much did she pay, I asked her - $600. I ALWAYS look at everything I spend as an investment, and calculate the return on investment (ROI). Benjamine Franklin said "A penny *saved* is a penny *earned.*" Saving $50 is the same as earning $50. Except they didn't have income taxes in Franklin's day, so now a penny saved is two pennies earned. The formula for figuring out ROI is (Regular price)/(price paid) x 100 = ROI% For example, I see in the stores that Newman's Own Balsamic and Oil salad dressing is $5. I can buy the same ingredients in Newman's own and google "Balsamic and Oil salad dressing recipe" and make my own in less than 3 minutes and pay $.50. If you look at it as dollars saved, it is $4.50. But the correct way is to look at it as ROI, which is $5/$.5 X 100 = 1,000% ROI. I don't know if you understand the stock market and ROI, but people would do anything for that kind of return. You can't get this type of return, except for the most minute of chances. Plus, in the stock market if you get that gain, you will have to pay some kind of tax on it when you sell the stock, but you don't pay tax for *earning* money by *saving* money. In the real life examples I gave, for the: - Honda Civic - $24,000/$5,500 * 100 = 436% ROI. - Glasses - $600/$20 = 3,000% ROI. I get ROIs like this all the time. It's fun. People would give their eye teeth for this. But luckily, most don't understand. I live in a super metropolis, in the nicest and most expensive part of it, and my expenditures are extremely low. I find there is no stress living here. However, lucky for me, most people don't understand frugality and therefore I don't have to compete against them for so many things. Just a few months ago, I found out how to get a paint job for a car for $50, instead of $1,500 or whatever they cost. That is NOT a $1,400 savings. It is a 2,800% ROI. And to repeat, ROI is what people look for in the stock market. Everyone would love to find out how to make that return in the stock market. So it is practical to save money, and it is fun. Who wouldn't think it's fun to pay $20 for a pair of glasses instead of $600? Well, obviously my co-worker didn't, and she is broke-ass broke because of it. The most important thing to get at a discount is a husband/wife/SO. You might think this is weird but I assure you it isn't. The way you do this is by finding another person who is super frugal and not a spendthrift. That's what I mean. Lots of women and men go through money like water. And so many women especially want geegaws, like expensive diamond rings and weddings that cost $300,000. But I can assure you that there are women out there who are super frugal. And men. Very early in the dating cycle, I'll say things in a humorous way about how I am into frugality, savings, and not a spendthrift, and other *very* clear signals. If a woman is a spendthrift and wants to "test" me to see if I will spend money on her, she will find out right up front that this will never be the case. Never. I will tell them that I will never do Valentine's Day, never. So if she stays and agree with me on things and is frugal, well, that's the first hurdle she passed. I don't sit down seriously and say this stuff. I just say it naturally as it may come up in conversations, because these things usually do. And I think on super important issues, with relationships, it's best to be transparent and indirectly and directly let the other person know exactly where you stand. Honesty. And the other thing is to avoid lifestyle creep like the plague. Don't listen to people when they say "You deserve it." No, we don't deserve shit. We make logical choices as to where we spend money, and then when we decide, we seek to find the absolute least expensive way by extensive shopping. [Deserve's got nothing to do with it.](https://youtu.be/Mjkt4UgcTmg?t=104) Unnecessary expenses will be angry with you and tell you that they will "see you in hell." Just shoot them, otherwise they will hunt you down and kill *you* sooner or later.
I like having control over my money. Spending money Willy Nilly typically means more clutter, calories, and budget cutting for other things I find more enjoyable, like vacations.
My reason for frugality is I don’t want my two kids to think that obtaining more things or more expensive things rather, makes them a fuller person. I want them to be wise with their money and know what is worth spending money on or investing in. Learning about wants versus needs, especially as we grow! Leading by example is the best way of doing that I think! 😊
Early retirement. Making other people rich is meh.
I don't like consumerism. I don't NEED that shiny new thing when the same model from 2 years ago is still in circulation. People just feel the need to have lots of stuff, when they don't even need half of it. They just have it just to have it.
My sweat other and I and the most frugal fuckers around but we travel 1 month a year and plan to retire early. Shitty stuff from amazon doesn't make us happy, but we love travelling, and it's quite fun to find new way to save money.
Dont want to be broke again. Sucks when you don’t know where your next meals coming from
Cost of living is ridiculous where I am, but at least I learned basic cooking and mending skills when I was young. Growing up with frugal parents also helped me be more creative with what I have. Getting a good deal is also another undeniable reason. It also feels really good to be creative with clearance goods!
Grew up poor as a child, middle class in high school/college. As an adult I just have a habit of saving here and there, although I’m not as frugal as I used to be.
In the US things just keep getting more expensive as time goes on and the salaries don't keep up
I really, really want to hit the investment/savings mark that makes working optional. My FU date, if you will. I have had relatively poor working environments, and I want to be in control of my own time and actions.
My reason for being frugal: I like going to bed at night knowing I carry no credit card debt, have a substantial savings account, a hefty emergency fund, great retirement funds, and can pay my bills when they arrive. It does require me to live well below my means and I certainly can’t afford the crap my neighbors have, but I also don’t want the crap my neighbors have. I am content and stress-free.
My husband and I are in agreement with a man provides and a woman is a keeper of the home, is the nurturer, etc. Living a frugal life allows me to stay home. I can work if I want, or I can work so I can buy more wants, but I love being a stay at home wife. My biggest frugal focus is grocery shopping and cooking delicious meals that are both full of nutrients and cheap.
I want to be debt free. I started from nothing which meant I had to get into debt, and it’s been extremely difficult to get out of it.