Frugal Parents

[spyzvixxen]

Frugal is not in my parents' vocabulary. We grew up with the basic necessities thanks to help from both sets of grandparents. We ate a lot of PB&J and chicken dinners. We weren't as bad off as most but it sure was tight with us 4 kids living on the "north side" of town. People always assumed we were middle-class since we lived on the north side. The truth is that they rented that house from my grandparents for dirt cheap. My parents are still spendthrifts and live paycheck to paycheck. I learned frugality from both sets of grandparents. If I had only followed their saving advice from an early age ::::

[lilyrose]

My parents are both frugal. My mom keeps track of the money (she has some weird system that just only she understands), and my dad is in charge of grocery shopping. It really bothers my mom to 'waste' something. She always likes things to be used instead of thrown away.

[rsbs]

I grew up with frugal parents. They've changed now & are enjoying themselves in their retirement.
Growing up, we had what I'd now call a "hobby farm." VERY similar to what I have now. 10 acres, 1 acre garden, chickens (I don't have these yet - but I will one day!), and a few fruit trees. Add to that the wild fruit we had growing, we had a nice suppliment. Mom & Dad paid off the land & house while I was a teenager. Since, they have moved to suburbia - but still own the "old homestead." Dad worked, mom stayed home. We made some of our clothes & LOVED accepting hand-me-downs! I remember eating store-bought chocolate chip cookies & a coca-cola at a friend's house & thinking I had hit the jackpot because we never had these in our house! I also remember drinking homemade lemonaide & eating "turkey ham" until I hated the stuff. Still won't eat it. But it was cheap.
I never wanted for anything - partially because we didn't have cable TV & only got 2 channels over the air - I wasn't subjected to commercialism!

[Teresa T]

My mother was cheap cheap cheap.

To the point where you can over do it. We never seemed to have much fun as a kid. For example I remember we went to some reservoir and there was a fee to drive in, unless you only stayed for 1/2 hour or less so that is what we did. It was like drive in. hurry. drive out!

We were not poor. Not rich. My stepfather had a good job with the county roads department. We were forced to stay in the back yard a lot.

[Linda Kanagawa]

The answers to my question about frugal parents was astounding. My mom was born in 1911 in a log cabin. Both sets of grandparents were extremely frugal, but that was the way of life for their communities. When my grandparents moved to town and finally got electricity my grandfather bought one lightbulb and moved it from the kitchen to sitting room as needed. Only a fool needed one in the bedrooms. My mom had such a good outlook on life. She remembered always being warm with homemade quilts and the biscuits and gravy being so good. My dad grew up on the home farm that was self-sufficient and what they didn't have they didn't need.

Mom and Dad were very suited to each other and getting married in the Great Depression made them quite serious about making do. Dad always had at least 2 jobs and would always have a farm which was his first love for recreation and extra money. Mom stayed home til I was in HS, gardening, wallpapering, canning, and sewing beautiful clothes for my sister and me always with bargain fabrics. Once we found a place that would sell fabric by the pound (we had to dig through piles of junk fabric), or we would go to the pants factory and buy remnants. Mother always tried to better herself and us. She would go to the fabric store, locate someone who really looked sharp, and out of the corner of her eye watch to see what fabrics and patterns the woman was attracted to. I learned to sew in fourth grade making a shirt out of a feed sack. The sack had cowboys on it. Whenever we took a day trip, Mom would get up early, fry a chicken so we didn't have to buy lunch.

The best example of how frugal they were was the time they bought a house to make cosmetic repairs and then resale. The basement had black smokey walls from a coal furnace. They decided to paint them white using a paintbrush. Then they tried a foam brush which worked better. If the foam brush was better, why not use a kitchen sponge which was cheaper. Well, why not just cut up an abandoned foam mattress that was free. So we painted the basement walls with pieces of a foam mattress.

[Jojaby]

Unfortunately, I don't have my mom to thank for my being frugal. Even to this day she is spend happy. Credit cards are her best friends and coupons are foreign to her.

[shubh]

Yes, they were and I too follow their tips. I think there is no harm in saving at every step. My children never waste their pocket money, as we have developed the habit to save in them just from their childhood.

[Thevail]

I wish my parents had been frugal. They were terribly poor, so it wasn't vacations or fancy cars etc. It was just wierd stuff, like buying a bunch of ice cream and soda on payday and then having to subsist on off brand mac-n-cheese made with water by the middle of the week.

I think they really felt bad because we weren't "having fun", so they tried to do things they thought would be fun for us kids. But in doing some of this stuff they really neglected the basics.

It made it a lot harder for all of us kids to behave sanely with money when we left home. We just were never taught to put off instant gratification in the cause of fiscal sanity. None of my siblings are anywhere close.. yet. The youngest is 35 now...

Case in point.. I honestly thought bills came on pink paper. Those were the ones I saw mom paying.

[pollypurebred39]

Yes, very frugal. Growing up my Mother never minced words about money. She did the best she could with what she had and no amount of but Mom, all the girls have ___ jeans would make her give in and buy the designer jeans. However, we live where there were tons of knitting mills. My Mom asked her friend who worked there to get her some labels of the designers my Sister was begging for and she tacked them on new, but generic k-mart jeans. My Sister never the wiser proudly struted her stuff to school *Giggles* Still cracks my Mom up when she talks about it. My Mom did stuff like that all the time, I never cared much about labels but it bothered my Sister something fierce.( She had a few uppity friends) Anyway my Mom did that with all her clothing, and most of it was handmade! LOL!

We also ate dried beef and hamburger gravy, had handmade clothing, sleepwear, slippers, hats, scarfs, bedding, curtains. We hung our laundry, gardened and canned. We had electric and plumbing Praise God! But often times no heat or hot water. Homemade bread or biscuits with gravy was a common meal in our home as was a garden dinner. There was always enough to share, even when there wasn't.

My Grandmother played a large role in our upbringing. herself very poor and frugal having 13 children, nine surviving their 2nd Summer. From her we learned the importance of family, and integrity. She often told My Mom when she started to complain about how hard it was keeping things pulled together, "It's a poor hen who can't scratch for 2 chicks". that I'm sure molded my Mother into who she became.

I won't speak for my Sister, but how I grew up had a very profound effect on me. I freak at the idea of spending $20 on fast food, that's 20+ lbs. of chicken legs, 20 bottles of shampoo, 20 tubes of toothpaste, 50lbs of potatoes and 6 heads of cabbage at the farmers market! The math boggles the mind. I'd rather have a stocked pantry, or a few new outfits from Goodwill, or better yet money in an EF than be spending money on fast food, or wasteful things. My Mom and my Grandmother's frugal ways definately play a role in how I view money today.


Fast forward 40+ years, my Moms retired. Before she retired she planned for it, setting aside her small nest egg and pre arranging her funeral. She found a lovely well within her means apartment that allows pets (A must for her) She stockpiled things that were important to her, purchased an adjustable bed, and furniture that suits ADA needs. She's quite comfortable in the little nest that she made for herself.

[miss_thrifty]

My parents were the opposite of frugla and still are materilistic. I think they belive since they came bothe form very poor familys that they need theses things to feel like their someone and how much they have and what its worth. Oh by the way-my grandmother brought me up mostly. That tells u where I got my reality!!!

[Nishu]

To this day I really don't know if we were poor or frugal growing up. My mom says that my dad has tons of money stashed away somewhere. I know that my mom is not terribly good with money.

I'm mentally preparing for the possibility of caring for one or more of our parents as they age because they were not careful as they should have been. Obviously, I don't know that this is going to happen because I don't see anyone's balance sheet. It's a guess.

When my grandpa passed away about 20 years ago, his children could not agree on how to split his property. Several of his kids wanted their money now, when my dad and his brother wanted to buy it. It ended with the property being auctioned because they wanted their inheritance right away. My dad and I don't talk about his money or my money, but we have talked about his property. I want it when he passes, and he says that he's taken steps to make sure that it won't be sold.

I know this is off topic, but the fact that my dad has made these arrangements and has always planned for his retirement give me a piece of mind. It's something that I appreciate even if he didn't pass on his frugal habits to me.

[melanies]

My mom was very frugal! She paid cash for everything, including a house and another one that she had built. I was just thinking about her today (actually I think about her almost every day as she passed away in 2003) and I really wish I had spent my adult life listening to the advice she gave me on money and spending.

I usually buy whatever I want and rarely say no to myself over anything. I don't have a lot of debt, but I also don't have a lot of savings which is bad.

One thing that I think we struggle with here in the US is conspicuous consumerism. I have a huge thingy of nail polish. I have thrown so much away that I have never used, but a lot of times I keep buying. I remember my mom asking me "How many nail polishes do you need??". On or two are truly enough (oh and a base and top coat). I'm serious. Its the same thing with makeup. I would hate to admit how much I have spent on one item. I don't know, all of that to say I wish I listened to her more.

My dad was the one that wanted the nicer stuff and was willing to spend more for better quality.... something that my mom did not always do. In some ways they might have balanced each other out.

Anywhoo I plan to spend a lot more time here than the other bulletin boards that I am on that encourage me to spend.