Achieving the impossible - frugality really does work

**homesteadmamma** · 10-20-2002, 10:27 AM

I thought it would be fun to post about our achievements since starting frugality - what we've accomplished to help encourage others.

My story is probably similar to a lot of you. I spent our way into debt to the tune of $18,000.00 and that did not include car or house. I always wanted to go out for meals, purchase new furniture, stop for treats when going for car drives.

I had always been a bit frugal to some extent, but when it came to using cc, I was lost.

Six years ago this past Sept. I decided that was enough. I had read the TWG and a couple of other books and begin to realize we needed to stop. We had a family meeting and decided to cut up ALL cc, write to the companies and tell them we know longer wanted credit priviledges. I had all the numbers memorized so I needed to do that. Freezing them would not have worked for me.

We then went on a radical frugality journey that paid off. In 6 years we were debt free, owned our dream home that we paid cash for and had savings in the bank. It was a long journey, one that at times I was ready to throw in the towel, but we persisted and I'm glad we did today.

We stopped eating out (once a month was all we did), learnt to make everything from scratch, did canning/preserving, cut our car expenses by cutting back in drives (although we still did this somewhat), took picnics when we did go for drives. I learnt to shop at goodwill, yard sales and to bargain like never before. I refused to pay full price for anything, other than groceries. We didn't purchase anything unless we had cash to do so. There were times when I thought we wouldn't have winter clothing, but always something came through. I never said no to anything given to us for free. If we couldn't use it, someone else could.

Although we are now back in debt with our van, but I plan on having that paid off a whole lot sooner than the 5 years.

Tell us about your journey into frugality and how its paid off for you.

**MJsLady** · 10-20-2002, 10:37 AM

Well my journey is just begining. I am not sure how much debt we are in but I am finally getting the courage to tell dh "NOT NOW let pay off XYZ first" And now mostly he listens!
There are a few bills we are paying off that will last several months. but now we are on track. After those are done we could live on his pay alone, so I will have "MY" (as he puts it) money for fun. Little does he know my type of "fun" will be paying off our car early (due in June want to hit it in April)
and then slowly hide emergency money and save some so we can actually have a vacation, even if its just 2 days out of town.
My goal is in 2 years to have reduced enough to get our ghastly intrest rate lowered on our home so we can pay it off in 15 instead of 30. I do not want to be in debt until I am 68!

Thanks to people like CJ I know I can do this even if I have to some what hide my efforts until dh decides to join in.
And if I can do it...ANYONE CAN!!!!

**captclearance** · 10-20-2002, 10:41 AM

I have been frugal for more than 20 years, I was broke and had no other choice...... It just became a way of life for me.... I learned how to make my money(what little I had) work twice as hard as other peoples .... It has really paid off for me over the years and although I am not debt free, I have a very manageable debt that either dh or I could do alone..... We have our savings and some put away for the kids...... I don't feel that I have missed out on anything, in fact I can afford a little generosity because of our frugal ways and that feels good too......

**Mom23boys** · 10-20-2002, 12:01 PM

When we needed to be frugal we weren't and now that we don't need to, we are. I started about a year ago by surfing the net and coming across some frugal sites. I was impressed and was hooked. My family jumped on board and noone has really complained. Every now and then I hate having to cook another meal after working all day and will give in and go out to eat. I have learned alot from others and from reading the TWG. I have saved our family more money than I could ever imagine. I do not like to pay full price for anything. Someone will say I only got this for x amount of dollars and I will think to myself, I could have done better! I scout for bargains! I save all my receipts and most UPC because there are rebates for most products. I just find myself doing simple things I never would have done before and not thinking twice about it.

**justjenn** · 10-20-2002, 12:25 PM

I decided that it was time to be frugal when I looked at our cc debt. My dh made pretty good money, but I was using cc's! Now he makes less, and I have all this debt.

We have paid off quite a few debts, but we have quite a bit to go.

**Patchworkgirl** · 10-20-2002, 12:32 PM

Although our financial health is no where near where I would like it to be, we have come a long way since we got married. When we met, we both had large amounts of credit card debt, and no savings what so ever. Our spending habits plus 2 long periods of unemployment sent us into a Chapter 13 bankruptcy 3 1/2 years ago. I swore up and down that I would never ever be in that position again. It's been a long road, but we are slowly turning things around. We paid up the bankruptcy in March 2002- 22,000 dollars in credit card debt, back taxes and mortgage payments that were 6 months behind. Our payments to the court were 590.00 a month for 3 long years. I can proudly say that we don't have one credit card, our mortgage and taxes are up to date, and that the only debt I have is my car payment. But, being age 46 & 48, we have a lot of catch up to play. The Chapter 13 allowed us to keep our home, but we have absolutely no equity in it. WE have very little savings- under $500 currently. We have one daughter in college, and we are helping her with living expenses, the second one is about to enter next year. We have a retirement fund that my husbands bosses contribute to every year, and that has been such a plus. Sometimes I get depressed because I feel we will never catch up, but then I look at where we've come from and know that it can only be better. I hope by telling my children our mistakes, and teaching them better ways of handling their finances that hopefully they will start off better than we did.

**bamamomto4** · 10-20-2002, 01:13 PM

We started off very young.I was 16 when we married (only a kid) and Steve was 18.2 months after getting married,I had Ashley.
We rented some rinky dink 2 bedroom mobile home that was prob 25 years old.We barely had money for food,much less bills.
I remember our first year of getting back a income tax.It was a lil over $1800 and boy,I thought we were rich!! We caught up some bills,filled the fridge and went shopping at Wal-Mart! LOL
I bought clothes,a new purse,Ashley got clothes,a few toys,and Steve got a few things...I'll tell ya...money don't last long when you spend it like that .
After about year of being married,Steve was making more money and we went further in debt by buying a new doublewide.We had one vehicle,a huge payment,and nothing much else. And to be honest...I think those days we were happier. Our bills were paid every month,I cooked at home every single night.We didn't eat out AT ALL!! But we learned alot.I started using coupons,watching for sales,stocking up on meat when it was on sale and by doing that,I would go weeks without buying much food,just milk bread etc...
After 5 years...we moved into a larger mobile home and our payment was $469 plus a $197 land payment.Not to mention $103 car,$256 truck,lights,water,phone,Ins. groceries. I look back now and think how in the world were we paying that.I was working back then and only had one child.Now we have 3 kids,one on the way,I'm a SAHM and Steve makes twice as much money now and we couldn't afford all that. I make a lil money doing candles,but I won't be taking over the candle industry anytime soon LOL
I must be doing something good though...we have 2~ 1999 vehicles,bought new,paid cash for

Our house is paid for.It was left to us when Steve's mom passed away.We doubled the size of it and paid it off.The only bills we have our power,water,cable,phone,internet,car ins,house ins,cc's,and ashleys clarinet,which will be paid off EARLY!!!

I've set myself a goal in getting that paid for as soon as possible! I'm 6 months ahead on the payments now

Oh yea...we've come a loooong way!!!!

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 10-20-2002, 11:36 PM

I get annoyed with people who make fun of my frugality and the fact that I am a more or less SAHM (I work 10-15 hours a week) and then have the nerve to say, "Gee you have a huge house. I wish I could afford something like this", as they drink a Pepsi and eat another bite of their fast food meal while I am going home to a yummy Crock Pot meal. Yes, I have wonderful home and we made sacrifices to get it, but it was worth every meal at home! IMHO, it is not a sacrifice to eat at home rather than putting your hard earned cash into a mutlinational corporation. Yes, we occasionally eat out, but when I see statistics that say the average American eats out forty percent of the time, I am staggered! Since we eat out an average of three times a month (it's usually a take and bake pizza!), soemone is NEVER eating at home!

Y'all will appreciate this little story: Two Christmases ago, my mom was at her mother's house with all of the family (they live in Oklahoma, so I wasn't there

). My cousin was deboning the turkey carcass for grandma (one good thing--she didn't just toss the bird out!). My mom commented that, "Lori makes turkey soup from all the leftover bones". Kim said, :Oh, I couldn't be bothered with THAT" (in a rather superior tone). When Mom told me this, I said, "Well, you can let her know that I helped pay for my house--all 2500 or so square feet of it--with my turkey soup." She is still living in a realllly bad dump (it is AWFUL and filthy, according ot my mom). My mother laughed and laughed about that!

**tnschaffer** · 10-21-2002, 03:49 PM

Well, we are no where near were we want to be, but frugality is something we have only been doing for a year. when I had my secind child we could no longer afford to pay for child care, and my work expenses. I was bringing home about 50.00 a month. We decided I should be a SAHM. That was in January of last year.

one day I scouted around on the internet looking for a recipe for homemade baby wipes. I found a wonderful website and I was hooked. I came home and told dh about it and he was relieved. He would do anything to make me happy...which included letting me buy anything I want, racking up the cc's, eating out most everyday, buying vehicles we couldnt afford..etc.

Well I managed to rack up over 15,000 of debt in 4 years of or marriage. That doesnt include our car payment, mortgage and other things. We got a loan from my wealthy grandfather to pay off the 15,000. Its been a year, and we have another 3 to go. I am having another baby and we are drowning in medical bills. When I make out a budget we usually are 300.00-400.00 in the hole every month. but by the grace of God, somehow we make it.

It wont always be this tight, in 3 years we will have the car the 15,000 loan, the computer and medical bills paid off. Whilst also improving our home for more equity.

You ladies are inspiring for little ole me who is just starting on my debt free journey. It is great to see that you have made it, and to know I will to someday

**MANDERS** · 10-21-2002, 04:06 PM

I started young too and was fortunate enough to have enough people around me making huge financial mistakes that it hit me in the head about 1.5 yrs ago that man we don't have to live like this.Meaning we don't need name brand meals all the time or clothes for that matter.And It also made me realize that those little splurges did add up.WE started out with nothing in the begining and then about 3 years later we had over 100,000 in debt(counting our house,which was 60,000 of it)

Now 1 1/2 years after starting my frugal venture we have around $75,000 in debt(around 55,000 of it being our house)We have even been able to figure out what year we are going to be out of debt(completely no house payment) 2010!!!To me its a better relief to strugle somewhat and pinch penies to get out of debt way before i'm "supposed"to and to have that fredom later on to have money for whatever.

To me the biggest joy was to sah with the kids for 3 years,but I saw more to me and decided to work at dd's school.Actually its kinda funny cause people ask well did ya need the money and I say no they were short handed and I wanted to be close to both of my kids all day and do something that I love so I said what the hey and started the following monday.I don't even think money is a factor at all.

**Jerseygirl** · 10-21-2002, 06:57 PM

Five years ago we were approx $12,000 in debt, living in an apt. that cost almost $1,000 a month, and I hated it there. We took expensive vacations, dropped hundreds of $ each month in the clubs and lived on Chinese takeout and expensive dinners out.
After about a year, I started looking at where our $ was going, we make very good $, but between our debt, his alimony and child support and our style of living, we had no savings. That wasw the first thing to change. With just baby steps, cooking more, less dry cleaning, renting a movie instead of going out, and within a year we were out of debt.
Then I decided if we can do that, we can take the $ we were making payments with and save for a house. I hated that apt so much it was the perfect reason to work hard. The changes became more drastic, couponing, rebating, 1 out of season vacation, few nights out.
Eighteen months later the house I wanted became available, we bought it with only 15 years of payments, which will hopefully be done in 10. We have over 1 year of my salary in the bank, we have made nice changes to the house and don't live paycheck to paycheck and it feels so good. Our only debt is the house. We went to the bank this weekend and the woman who was talking to us about investment options was shocked when she opened our account information. If things go as planned we will both retire before 55. Yes, I hang my laundry, yes, I make soup, and stir fry and sandwiches from that left over turkey, yes I watch every dollar, but looking at what I have accomplished in the past few years makes it so worth it!

**mommyto5** · 10-21-2002, 08:05 PM

This is a really great thread because it has inspired me to try harder. We have wayyyyy to much cc debt. It makes me sick to think of all the money that is going to cc payments every month that is just the minimum payment. I feel trapped that we can't make the next move up in our lives financially until we get out of cc debt. We also are paying for a home equity loan , 2 vehicles and our home. I am a sahm and dh makes great money but we are stretched way to thin. We are expecting our 5th child this spring and we are trying hard to be frugal and get these cc paid off. Thank you all for inspiring me to keep going and keep trying.
Amy

**Hawkshop** · 10-22-2002, 02:13 AM

I am still working hard at frugality. I started this past summer. We got so tired of living paycheck to paycheck. When I was pregnant with my daughter who will be 3 this month, I was medivaced to a larger hospital 3 hours away for pre-term labor. I spent a month in the hospital, flat, unable to get out of bed for any reason. We lost my full time income and my employer was unable to hold my job. My daughter was born at 26 wks. Due to all this, we were unable to pay all our bills. We exhausted every effort and after talking to a few lawyers decided to file bankruptcy. DH's truck was repo'd. I slipped into a debilitating depression because my daughter was clinging to life and I had so much grief over my loss of pregnancy. I was unable to focus on anything and I used to handle all the money.
This was a few years ago and we don't have any credit card debt. I am not proud of what we did but we felt we had no other choice. I shop at Wal-Mart and thrift stores, use coupons and rebates, we hardly ever go out to eat unless it is the occasional McDonald's night or pizza night. Maybe once a month if that. I just think of all the ways we will benefit from being cautious of our spending.

**Patchworkgirl** · 10-22-2002, 05:33 AM

Jerseygirl- I am very impressed with what you accomplished!!!

**milach** · 10-23-2002, 08:24 AM

Our journet started 5 years ago when dh and I started dating. He was about $25,000 in CC debt, personal loans and a minimal truck payment. All I had was a $100.00 car payment each month. When we moved in together after 8 months, I took over the bills. With our 2 paychecks, plus a generous gift from his mom, we were able to pay off but $6,000 in just under 2 years. We had gotten rid of the vehicles we had and got one nice one to the tune of almost $500.00 a month. And it's been all downhill from there.

We traded in our Chevy Tahoe for a Jeep Wrangler (lease) for the lesser monthly payments soon after we had ds. That worked out really well until we moved in with my parents to save up money to get our house. Since we weren't in the big city anymore, we started racking up the miles on the Jeep, so we got a second car- now our total payments are up where we were with the Tahoe- totally defeating the purpose. Since we got our house, the CC is up to about $10,000, I'm paying on a lease for a vehicle we don't use because of the mileage on it and every week the mortgage is due, we have zero money left over. I feel as though I'm pedaling my bike backwards up hill.

Whenever we get some money in the savings, something ALWAYS comes up. This year's tax return had to go to property taxes because the stupid bank didn't escrow enough money for it. His Christmas bonus last year was blown on something (I can't remember now) on something I preferred not to spend it on- I think it was car repair bills.

So at the beginning of the year, I'm planning on getting a job working weekends to pay off the credit card. I've been playing the balance transfer game to get really low APRs, but this needs to stop. I figure if I can bring home $1000. a month, this time next year that will be paid off. With dh's X-mas bonus he already got, plus the tax return, I intend on paying off the lease on the Jeep (we only have 1 year to go as of April). That's going to save us a ton of money each month right there. So hopefully, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel for us soon.

Laura