Temorary or permanent changes to your lifestyle

**prairiewife** · 03-17-2008, 05:46 PM

We have all been posting about struggling with the rising costs of groceries and gas. Many of us are experiencing job losses or cut backs.

Are you and your families making changes to your lifestyle that you consider permanent or are you trying to just get through this and maintain your current lifestyle?

For us I think it's been a great lesson in back to basics. I cook from scratch not only because we need to but I also enjoy it. I like being able to create something useful from leftover fabric. I like the feeling of satisfaction that comes from us repairing something on our own. I have learned to be happy with a car that gets me from point A to point B even though it is old and ugly.

We are struggling more now, my sweeties work has been cut in half the past two weeks. We already live fairly frugaly, but I know even when things pick up again we should continue living as frugaly as possible.

Just curious, will you continue to live just as frugaly if costs go down and your financial situation improves?

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-17-2008, 05:54 PM

I personally have not changed very much except driving everywhere and spending in general for things we dont need.

While I can say I have been frugal for years, I can say that my DH is on board with me full throttle this time. When I say "We can't buy anything until..." he says OK! Its not that we dont buy things as we do but we have learned to cut down and now with the costs rising we just dont cross the line and think "Well we can get this now and not get something next week".

We also make do with the food we have in the pantry and freezer, we dont go out to each much either.

**M55FF** · 03-17-2008, 06:09 PM

I would and have... been many years now... maybe I'm just set in my ways because I don't even think about it much.
I live like I always have. Guess its a lifestyle to me rather than a situation to contend with for awhile.

**bee9984** · 03-17-2008, 06:49 PM

With us we live frugally for months and months and then all of the sudden we just fall off the wagon but we do get back on. Unfortunately this time around we were really off the frugal wagon and dh had enough of his employer and quit his job so I/he wasn't prepared. Now in saying that if we had stayed frugal, kept our nice emergency fund funded etc we wouldn't be having it quite this tight.

I just wasn't prepared for going almost a month now with dh having no paycheque (it will be a month this Friday) but as I have mentioned in a previous post we do have his military pension and my part-time job but it doesn't give any extras for irregular bills etc..however I am so thankful to have what we do have and feel very blessed

We paid cash for our car, bills are paid, credit card needs to be paid off however and when we bought our principle dwelling this past September opposed to getting a $300,000 plus home we decided to go with an older ranch style bungalow for $150,000.

In reality we will probably stray a bit but I don't think we will stray away from being frugal enough to hurt us ever again.

The Freedom we feel however right now is Priceless

**Hannahs mom** · 03-17-2008, 06:55 PM

I'm new to this, but plan on making this a lifestyle change, even though DH is not frugal in the least bit.

**Marie78** · 03-17-2008, 07:30 PM

I had been frugal most of my life and then in my early 20's my college loan came due and I had taken on a car loan and I suddenly had $300 to pay towards these monthly loans and on top of rent, utilities, gas and food this amount was nearly impossible to keep up with. I struggled with how to survive on mediocre pay, even though I had gotten a college education I wasn't making the pay I thought I would with a degree. I didn't know how to live within my means each month.

I guess I never really strayed from frugality, I just didn't understand that I could be even more frugal than I was. By making more of my own foods, using less of a product to extend it's life, clipping coupons and shopping sales. I have learned a lot more in the last few years on how to stretch a dollar and make my pay go further. I will not stop this lifestyle, in fact if anything I hope to become more frugal in the future. When I have my own home I am putting up an outside clothes line and an indoor one in the laundry room. I will also have a garden to grow most of our produce. I need sites like FV to help keep me motivated. Between friends, family, and media trying to sway you to buy and have more it's hard to stand firm with my frugal choices.

I know that even if I came into lots of money I would not waste and buy into consumerism. I do and would continue to buy quality and take care of it and give what I can to charitable organizations (if I had more $ I would just give more happily).

**Jellybeanz** · 03-17-2008, 07:30 PM

Lets see... areas we have cut back or out are few but a must. More serious cutbacks like satt tv and internet could happen if things continue sliding downhill.

Right now, we ( well more me because my husband doesn't care to be involved in the budget) are going to stop eating out . Place like Olive Garden or Chilies. Not super expensive restaurants, but by the time we pay for our meal and tip, it's too much these days.

I've cut back on trips and tried to make sure I get as many errands done in a trip as I can.

I've cut back on the smaller splurge purchases like a book or a candle or even new underware! lol

I've actually bought more groceries lately, but it's more stockpiling in preparation for rising prices. I look at foodstuffs such as tea, beans and rice as an investment now :-)

I stopped netflix.

I am taking more notice of what I use and stretching it out.

We had been planning a vacation when our son got done with college, that's on the backburner now. I guess that is what I hate cutting out the most because we have really only ever had one in 27 years. But I'll survive ... *smile* As long as we can keep our bills ahead I'll be thankful.

If things got incredibly better down the road, I would probably start eating out once or twice a month again somewhere reasonable and maybe get Netflix back. Maybe.

I think that we are going to have to adjust to higher prices though.Don't see them dropping back down.

**M55FF** · 03-17-2008, 07:34 PM

< has an indoor and outdoor clothsline !

Call them my "scivy slings"

guess you know your tight when you have 2 scivy slings, one for good weather one for bad

**MrsClaus** · 03-17-2008, 08:21 PM

DH is laid off this week. Looks like this weekly lay-off may be a monthly thing so I'm really trying to figure out how to cut everywhere.

**Missourimom** · 03-17-2008, 08:22 PM

Times are getting tougher here too. I'm doing the same things as many of you are.

*I try and consolidate as many trips into one now.
*We also canceled Netflix.
*We roll our own cigarettes now. I know we shouldn't smoke, but we do. A pack of our own costs about .90 compared to 3.85 at the store.
*We absolutely do not eat out anywhere.
*No vacation this year. We'll hang out at home and swim in the pool instead or go to Grandpa's in the country and fish in his pond and go 4-wheeling.
*There won't be any trips to anything local that requires spending, such as museums, etc.
*I stopped buying books and magazines months ago. We can read online or visit the library.
*I'm making more homemade cleaners and I don't buy paper towels (I do have one hid for emergencies) or paper plates. It's a waste of money. I wish I didn't have to buy tissues, but all of us have bad allergies and we go through a lot of them.
*I'm trying to conserve water more, but I need to improve a lot.
*We don't make as many goodies as we used to since everything has increased, but I guess that's good in a way.
*I've been trying to cut back on coffee. I'm a coffee addict.
*My dh is doing all of our oil changes so we don't have to pay anyone else to do it.
*We seem to sit in dark rooms more than ever before. All utilities have gone up such as, electric, water, sewer and even the trash service. Gotta cut back everywhere we can.
*I can't remember the last time we bought clothes.
*I can't remember the last time we bought shoes.
*I cut dh's hair and he trims mine. The kids still get theirs done though.

I guess the one thing I miss the most is having my eye brows waxed on a regular basis and buying Yankee candles. I baby my candles now and in the past I would just burn them all the time.

**Telephus44** · 03-17-2008, 09:24 PM

Some of the changes we're making right now are only temporary. For us, the end goal is to purchase a house - so anything we don't spend can go towards a down payment.

We have given up eating out completely until the taxes are done (we owe $2300). This is only temporary for us.

I personally have given up getting pedicures and my Sephora habit. Not that I spent a ton of money on these things (maybe every 6 weeks for a pedicure and Sephora orders 2 or 3 times a year), but I do plan only splurging on these things again after we're comfortably in a house. I am also picking one day a week to run errands at lunch (I work full time) to save on gas.

Overall, we live a pretty frugal lifestyle before, and haven't implemented a whole lot of radical changes, and I don't think much of what new stuff we're doing now will be permanent. Most of the permanent changes happened a long time ago.

**ravenmaniac** · 03-17-2008, 09:44 PM

I have not changed my habits too much. I am a bit more aware of my driving habits but I hope this will become part fo my lifestyle. I think being frugal means being creative. For example: it gives me great satisfaction to darn a sock to make it last longer, turn little bits of leftovers into a delicious meal, or make a homemade gift for someone and see them smile because it truly touches their heart.

**qtkitty** · 03-17-2008, 11:53 PM

I doubt the basic bills that i have right now will ever go back down... aka rent, electric, cell phones.. which i have cropped down as far as i can... which comes out to 56% of our combined monies per month (when i am working full time)

**prairiewife** · 03-18-2008, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by ravenmaniac

I have not changed my habits too much. I am a bit more aware of my driving habits but I hope this will become part fo my lifestyle. I think being frugal means being creative. For example: it gives me great satisfaction to darn a sock to make it last longer, turn little bits of leftovers into a delicious meal, or make a homemade gift for someone and see them smile because it truly touches their heart.

Your right frugality and creativity go hand in hand. Nice to see that someone else mends socks!

**missmanny** · 03-18-2008, 02:39 AM

I find that I am much calmer now that I have been proactive in tackling my debt problems and money issues.

I find that I am happier to keep my money where as I used to think I would be happier to get the thing that I was wasting money on.

At the moment I am concentrating on snowballing my debt and I am feeling a high from that experience because I am doing so well.

My hope is that regardless of my future circumstances that I will have made these changes permanent. I am so anti things now that I am actively getting rid of things at home just so that I don't have to be reminded of the money I have wasted over the years.

I think that this is the way for me from now on. fingers crossed anyway