[mom2natalie]

I was wondering how many of you are frugal by choice or necessity?

I need to be frugal to make ends meet, but am curious how many people are just frugal by nature.

I think I could do better with my budgeting, and am inspired by others that have found great ways to slash costs.

I grew up with a mom that was frugal, but I never realized it until later in life. I never thought twice about her home garden and canning, bulk cooking/freezing, coupon clipping, garage "saleing"/thrift shops, etc. A lot of these things are natural to me because of this, but I "have" to do it, if I want to stay afloat.

Is anyone hating forced frugality? I can't say I hate it, but I do stay motivated and encouraged by others.

Just curious.

 

[Guest]

I am definitly NOT frugal by nature!LOL I LOVE to spend money..unfortunatly we don't have a lot of money to spend. So I'm learning and trying to be more frugal. Thank God for the internet, these boards have taught me so much, and provided much inspiration!

 

[littlewolf]

When I was younger, I was frugal because I had to be to pay the bills each month. Now, I am frugal because I can not stand paying full price for an item or service. That and it helps pay for the little extras that military pay can not cover.

 

[Guest]

i am frugal because i wanna be. my hubby and i make enough to live but i hate paying full price for anything. my goal is to save money on everything. this place has taught me so much! thanx!!

 

[qponfanatic]

well I have always hated paying full price but didnt start couponing till 6 months ago, but my dh and I are loving actually having groceries. Before I started couponing we might have bought some groceries every few months if we run out of something we just did without! so i guess i say frugal out of necessity!

 

[AmyBoz]

I enjoy being frugal, and for the time being, I am doing so out of necessity. I've been on maternity leave since February and don't start work again until September. So, no paycheck for me. Dh doesn't make enough alone to keep us afloat. So, before the baby came, we saved, saved, saved, and have continued to do so since she was born. We're doing okay, but could be doing better. It's interesting...having to be frugal has shown me how wasteful some people can be. My parents, for example. I shudder to think of the things they buy that they don't need. My mother goes to the grocery store almost every day to pick up something or other and never uses coupons. My Dad buys books and CD's through the mail that he could just borrow from the library. It makes me crazy! So, I guess I'm frugal out of necessity, but once it's not a necessity anymore, I definitely will continue to be frugal!

 

[Guest]

We have to be frugal. My SO LOVES to spend spend spend! I have to keep all the money in my purse to, or else it burns a hole in his pocket
Susan

 

[Guest]

I am trying to learn to be frugal. I love going to garage sales and trying to cheat the big department stores out of my money. I'm a little backwards tho... I have no problem giving the fast food restaraunts my money which is the biggest change I'm out to make.

 

[Ann Austin]

I think I am frugal because I have to be AND beacause I want to be. My biggest issue is dining out, I cant stand to go to a resturant and pay to eat there, when I KNOW I can prepare the same meals at home, and probably even better!!! Im not a lazy person, so I dont mind cleaning the kitchen, or using a little elbow grease to save a few bucks. I grew up with a mother that did garden, but she never went to garage sales or thrift stores and she always spent a fortune at the grocery store, at least $130 a week, and that was to feed 3 people!!!! We could make a good life buying just generic food and clothes from wal-mart, but I choose to make our dollars go even farther by cooking at home and buying most of our clothes from thrift stores and garage sales. When I go to Target or Wal-mart, I think toi myself......I KNOW i can find this trash can at a yard sale for 1/18th of the price that they have it here...even if it IS just $5...add those pennys up at the end of the year..and youre that much closer to your dream home or retirement ...or your childs college education. They say you cant take your money with you when you die...no you cant...but you can give it to your kids, and hope they have learned enough from you to hang on to it and make a good life for their families.

 

[MicheleMomof3]

I guess we could go without being frugal. But I have trained myself to get into the mindset that we HAVE to be frugal no matter how much money we have. We went from saving here and there to full blown frugal-holics! And now its a challenge to us to see how little we can spend. We live on one income and are a family of 5. At my DH's work I am the ONLY SAHM. So we are a rare breed
~Michele~

 

[Frugal_Woman]

I wasn't raised to be frugal. I'm frugal now because I have to be, I have bills to pay and a son to raise. I have no choice but to be frugal. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. Plus..I've learned how to make so much stuff.

 

[KathiS]

I have been learning about living a frugal lifestyle. Can't say I always am frugal but, I am trying!! /phpbb/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif I took an early retirement from teaching so, saving on groceries and other items sure stretches our money. I am already trying to teach our granddaughters how to shop at thrift shops and yard sales and how to use coupons.

 

[Guest]

what a fun post.
I am 24 with no kids, just a boyfriend that i live with. I go ahead and let him work due to a new found illness. were saving up for things like furniture,weddings, houses. I really see no point in paying full price when you don't have to. I am in land of no doubles, so i probably pay more than most of you would for groceries. this year was my first year of really getting into couponing./refunding. we've put everything saved into a bank acct. just made our first major purchase last week. our first new couch with the recliners built in (guess whose idea that was) for us this was a big deal after 3 years of being in bankruptcy we couldn't afford to buy furniture. ( before i refunded and couponed) we are no longer living paycheck to paycheck, and our bills are getting smaller and smaller. it is such an amazing feeling to look at our school loans and credit card bills, and seeing them next to nothing. i hope all of you can get there someday, and i hope to report back that everything is paid off like some of you have reported! best of luck to you guys.and god bless!

 

[Guest]

Once upon a time hubby and I both worked two jobs each (one apart - days; and one together - nights) and we were living paycheck to paycheck. Now -- hubby works and I stay home. We have more money now than we have ever had. Before we bought things because we had less time to cook "real meals" and make things for our home, but now we make things at home and reuse items bound for the trash -- we use coupons for the things we already purchase, we buy store brands for a lot of items and I make clothing and sleep-wear for myself for wearing around the house. We still buy hubby's jeans and things, as well as some of my "better" clothing. I still DO NOT buy clothes at garage sales or thrift stores because I only wear "hand-me-downs" from people that I know. However, when we do purchase a new item we buy on sale and get the best deals we possibly can.

So I would have to say that we are frugal by nature/choice as well as gy necessity. Hubby and I enjoy remaking an old used item into something new and useful for our home. It gives me a much more satisfied feeling to "re-make" things than it does to purchase anything new!!!

If we had the room (storage space) we are terrible pack-rats. We would be hauling things home constantly because we "might" beable to use it "someday". LOL

 

[CarrotCake]

We are frugal by necessity, but we shouldn't have to be. If we had been more careful with our money when we were younger, we wouldn't need to be frugal now.
As it is, We are working to pay off debt, using the snowball method. We are trying to reestablish our savings. We want me to be able to continue to stay home. In order to do all these things, we have to be frugal.
There are parts of it I enjoy though, thrift shopping, freebie hunting, cooking from scratch. When the magical day comes that I no longer "have" to be frugal, I will continue to do it by choice.

 

[PumpkinNoodlie]

I'm a tightwad a heart. But then again..I am very independant. Good money managment keeps me that way. If I ever needed something, I could always get it myself (thru savings, good credit, etc). So, it's probably all part of "my package". But I don't think to look at me, it would be obvious. Part of my interest in frugality was acquiring what I need/sometimes want,and never looking/acting "needy". My "mega" journey into frugality came after reading "The Tightwad Gazette" in 92. What an eyeopener! I still re-read that book over and over for inspiration. After reading that book...we have always been very comfortable on our modest income.

 

[Guest]

I guess I would say I am becoming frugal by choice...dh makes a pretty good paycheck..and we live pretty well...but I have become sick of seeing the money he makes dwindle away to nothing each pay period..like they say the MORE you make the MORE you end up spending...( and wasting)I've come across some prety kewl boards like this one that have tons of information on how to cut costs and even offer me ways to bring in a little moolah myself..like thru auctions and message boards like the rummage sale here..thanks to some of these sites i'm really getting back into the couponing wagon and having a BLAST gettign stuff nearly FREE at my local grocery store..( I learned online that there is a store in my area that triples!! who KNEW!! I sure didn't , until i read it on the message board!! ) Right now i'm actually 'enjoying " the frugality...it's become kind of a 'game" for me...but i can already see it's paying off..

My goals are to stop transfering from savings to checking each payday( which we've been having to do regularly lately) and start transfering from CHECKING to Savings...building up for a garage we really need to build..lately our garage fund has been dwindling away as we keep takign a little here a little there...we need to STOP that and start 'putting" money INTO it...

 

[Jerseygirl]

Hearing you ladies makes me feel so much better. People might say I am frugal by choice, but I see it as a necessity. After years of spending spending spending I feel like I am finally in control and making headway. After almost 10 years of his first marriage DH came to me with almost nothing in the bank--he makes more than decent dollars - but she was a spender. I had about $4,000 in debt and little savings, but with a reasonable income. In about 4 years we have saved enough for our nice downpayment on the house I wanted (15 year mortgage) and have no other debt, we drive decent used cars and take very nice vacations while maintaining a 5 figure savings account. How? coupons for everything, if there is a mailing list I am on it, cooking at home and brownbagging lunches,trading things with friends and family-mom and I never need the crockpot etc on the same days so why buy 2, no cable, trading dinner parties with friends rather than expensive nights out, we even went without a computer and internet at home for 3 years. It was 100% worth it for the freedom and peice of mind we have now.

 

[NewYorkCityMom]

Ditto ....what Carrotcake said.

If we were more frugal before we wouldn't be in debt now (but we will be out in 3 years or less).

But I am not complaining.

I am enjoying being frugal (at least most of the time). LOL

And I am in frugal in some ways ...so I can be be un-frugal in other ways. Dancing and singing lessons for my 15 year old dd....a nice home and car...and other things for my two boys.

I come last...because I seem to have less needs/wants LOL....but that is how moms are sometimes.

NYC MOM

 

[frugalchick]

Ditto for me NYC Mom.....our wants and needs 'round here
definitely come before our dks.....I call it 'unselfishness' for us.
And by the way, I know you and you know me....but that is for
another day. I will get back to you later.......