What was your tipping point?

**Thevail** · 03-09-2009, 02:28 AM

Very very few people in the modern world were raised to be frugal.
And although the maxims and values of the depression era are fairly well understood, most people never think to apply those standards to their own lives.
It's not until there is a financial disaster like the one we have now, that the average person thinks frugality is something practiced by either the sane or the employed.
So what was your tipping point? What in your life stood out or caught your attention enough to send you down the path of frugality?

**jayneluvsmickey** · 03-09-2009, 06:28 AM

i've been trying to live this way for about 14 years or so, but have fallen off the wagon many times

i wanted to do it simply because i find getting the most for a dollar a fun challenge

it didn't hurt that my nana had lived through the depression and taught me to save tin foil, either

i'm back on the wagon since january 5th and this time it's about getting the most for a dollar but mostly because....

I AM SICK OF DEBT!

i'm also sick of not having an emergency fund

**tigo** · 03-09-2009, 07:23 AM

I was raised very frugally. I dismissed a ton of the lessons as soon as I left home. When I ended up homeless I realized if I hadn't spent money on stupid stuff I wouldn't have been in that situation. That was 20 years ago and thinking of how it felt still makes me panic-y.

**omalleyc** · 03-09-2009, 07:27 AM

I was stressing out this past December about the possibility that DH or I could lose our jobs since we're both in the financial industry when I came to the realization that if we had a savings account and lived more frugally it wouldn't be as devastating to us if one of us were to become unemployed. For some reason it clicked that I wouldn't have to be stressing so here we are 3 months later with half an emergency fund already saved & I already feel less stressed!

**NewLeaf** · 03-09-2009, 08:07 AM

I was raised frugally and didn't even realize it! I always tried to be careful w/money and resources. My dad died when I was 18 and I put myself through college by working full time and scholarships. I LIKED the feelling of accomplishing things on my own. There were some very tough times.

DH and I have never been rich , but we didn't save our money before we had kids. Then along w/kids came our first debt. We paid it off. Then we bought a modest ($40,000) home and incurred more debt fixing it up some. Then dh had two heart attacks (more debt) at 35 yrs.

Anyway, we climbed out of debt yet again.....I had another baby at 37 yrs. old and slowly the credit mounted again. Sooooooo- this year we decided to pay things off again by snowballing. I just couldn't take the look on dh's face again when he would do the checkbook and we would be broke before next payday.

I started by finding FV and cutting my household expenses. DH has jumped on the bandwagon and we are really doing well right now.

I don't feel like frugal means doing without. Or that you are too poor to do better. I think , to me, it means making better use of your resources.

My tipping point was not wanting to see that stessed look on dh's face.

**MoonMommy** · 03-09-2009, 08:57 AM

Well, I was raised frugally to some extent. Now my mother spends too much money and drives my father crazy with it.

My tipping point....well, I was pg and Dh and I really wanted one of us to be able to stay home. He had a job and we were able to pay the bills....then the student loan payment came calling. Then, six weeks after my son was born, Dh got laid off. I was able to find a job fairly quickly but it was for about 2/3 of what Dh made. It took him almost a year to find another job. Money was REALLY tight for us due to Student loans for both of us as well as other various expenses (credit cards...in college we stupidly thought that we could live way beyond our means because we would both make tons of money when we got out and pay everything off real quick). Dh's salary paid the bills and I worked pt at night for "fun" money. However, we still had a VERY small savings that would dwindle as the year went on and only was "big" right after we got our taxes back.

I don't want to return to that feeling of helplessness. That is my motivation. So, while my DH makes good money for our area, we live pretty simply. Our house is modest. We have one modest car that is paid off and I am working like crazy to get us completely out of debt. That way if something happened, we wouldn't be staring at a pile of debts again.

**Momto2Boyz** · 03-09-2009, 09:01 AM

I was raised by a fairly frugal family. So alot of what I learned, I have to credit to my parents (don't tell them though

).

DH and I started out pretty poor when we first got married, so frugality was our way of life from the beginning, just to survive.

DH worked for a company (in the construction industry) for years, where lay offs came and went quite regularly, so if we didn't plan ahead, we wouldn't have income for the winter.

Now, he has a better job, without regular threats of lay off, and we've stuck to our frugal lifestyle, and it is a good fit for us. We are able to live well below our means, which means more cushion in the bank if something bad does happen. And it allows me to stay home with the kids and feed my crafting addiction!

Which allows me to make some money from home, and be able to be here when the kids get home from school!

**HandyMom** · 03-09-2009, 09:15 AM

My parents were frugal and saved money where they could but I thought of them as "cheap" instead of frugal while I was growing up. I didn't want to be like that so I didn't much think about being frugal until I had to when I lost my job and retired early. I had not only myself to take care of but also my child and I had to do it without support from a deadbeat ex. That's the short story.

**Grainlady** · 03-09-2009, 10:49 AM

I grew up in a home where poverty would have been a step-up and being frugal never entered the picture. My parents had very little education and were from the Depression Era - WWII Crowd and didn't have a clue about money. Being frugal means you can wisely use the money you have, and I realized that element wasn't part of my parents plan at a very young age - being a logical thinker.

Even when they had good incomes or a considerable inheritance, it went through their fingers like it was water with NOTHING to show for it. They rode a financial roller coaster of feast or famine. Steaks for supper on the day they got groceries, and little else the rest of the week.....

As it turned out, they only spent all they had, but never had a credit card and never carried any debt other than car payments occasionally. Until I took over their finances and checking accounts towards the end of their lives, they had never been balanced.

Because of my "interesting" childhood, I spent the early years of our married life hoarding food - which is different than stockpiling. I was always afraid of being hungry (a throw-back to my childhood) and that was my motivation, rather than a planned storage of food.

One day when I was 23-years old, it dawned on me there is a huge difference between fear and good planning and that I couldn't live in fear anymore because it wasn't constructive - I had an option and I took it. After taking some classes and reading on the subject I progressed very nicely. I'd say my frugalness comes from our early lean years when hubby was going through college, and trying to make the best choices for our family when the income was low and avoiding debt at all cost. But I've also studied frugality and thriftiness nearly to death and made it my avocation as a homemaker.

**Spikey1341** · 03-09-2009, 12:55 PM

Mine came as my job moved to Columbus and I had to take a lower graded job in order to stay put. I started thinking about retirement and no savings in the bank. That is when I started surfing the web and looking at homemaker sites. I found FV through spam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typed Housewife and have never turned back.

I bought Dave Ramsey's book and was inspired. DH still hasn't made it through chapter one. Maybe I will start reading it to him as a bed time story. LOL

**say_tay** · 03-09-2009, 01:24 PM

I was raised in a frugal family. My parents never charged a thing. They never bought anything of value without researching, then waiting 24 hours after making up their minds. Saving accounts were mandatory.
Then in college, I got stuck in a lease I couldn't afford. I used cash advances to pay rent. Once they were finally paid off, I cut up all my cards except one.

I learned the hard way it is easier to stay debt free than get debt free.

**DJ1972** · 03-09-2009, 01:40 PM

When I was 6 my dad became disabled then passed away when I was 13, so we lived on disability and what my mom made cleaning houses and ironing for others. They never did a budget, we just squeaked by month to month. So, when I got married and became a nurse I spent every dime we made, had car payments, house payment, credit card, etc. I thought we were living the american dream. DH was raised by an extremely frugal family who didn't believe in debt in any way. We figured out early in our marriage that credit cards were a rip off, so we paid those off and have not had one in 10 years. About 2 years ago, I read the TMMO and started listening to DR. We were not gazelle intense at first. Our only debt was auto and mortgage and we could pay our bills and have extra to play with....so I thought we were doing ok.
Now, we are gazelle intense. I want a fat savings account and want my DD to be able to go to college debt free. I like living a simpler life....less things, fewer bills to pay, not being stressed by what we would do if one of us lost our job. Peace is a wonderful thing.

**Thevail** · 03-09-2009, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Spikey1341

Mine came as my job moved to Columbus and I had to take a lower graded job in order to stay put. I started thinking about retirement and no savings in the bank. That is when I started surfing the web and looking at homemaker sites. I found FV through spam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typedspam! It is better fried than typed Housewife and have never turned back.

I bought Dave Ramsey's book and was inspired. DH still hasn't made it through chapter one. Maybe I will start reading it to him as a bed time story. LOL

Seriously WTF???

**DJ1972** · 03-09-2009, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Thevail

Seriously WTF???

When a site similar to FV is linked to through a thread the "fried spam" quote replaces what is typed. At least I think that's why that happens.

**mombottoo** · 03-09-2009, 02:01 PM

"So what was your tipping point? What in your life stood out or caught your attention enough to send you down the path of frugality?"

I learned to plan from watching those around me when I was growing up not planning. My dad was injured when I was 11, no disability insurance and he was too stubborn to fight for his SS. My uncle died when I was 15 and left behind my aunt & their 4 children, no life insurance and she was a SAHM.

I learned to save something every paycheck, because those around me didn't plan for the future. I am not by any stretch the most frugal person, but I have made sure through planning that we will always have a roof over our heads and our needs will be taken care of. For me "money" is a means to an end and I don't have to have a lot of it to be happy. Money doesn't buy me happiness, but it does pay the bills and enable me to do those things I enjoy doing. I am perfectly content with other people's castoffs, because one man's junk is another man's treasure...and it saves me a bundle.

In a nutshell I think nothing of spending $100 to feed my family take out from a local restaurant, but I wouldn't spend that same $100 on a lamp...