What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

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Jackielou
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What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by Jackielou »

I don't think we have ever shared what started us on our frugal paths.

Was it a job loss? Was it saving to purchase a home? Was it forced early retirement?

In my case it was a mixture of things. Hubby was without a job when the mobile home factory he first worked in closed. It was very hard to live on Unemployment Insurance then and things needed to be stretched. We were also very lucky to be living in a small village where he grew up and people rallied around giving him and the other guy many jobs under the table so to speak. We also lived near his parents and would often get invited for supper (especially on Sunday).

This opened my eyes to how close to the edge we were living.

Hubby after almost a year of looking for employment, got a job with an oil company. Good paying and we managed to pay off the debt we had accumulated while he was unemployed and I was at home with our oldest son.

We bought a house using our mobile home as down payment (seller took it as a trade for the down payment) and I realized that I hated being in debt. So I started to put small amounts of money into a savings account and when we were lucky enough to win a goodly amount on a scratch and win ticket put that and what I had saved together and paid off the house 15 years early. That was a relief.

I continued to save and as Hubby progressed up the ladder in that oil company I would be able to save more. Those savings gave us the cash for RRSP's, Tax Free Savings, and GIC's.
Jackie
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MackerelCat
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Re: What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by MackerelCat »

DH and I were both raised by parents who had been small children in the Deep South and east Texas during the Great Depression. We grew up knowing a waste-not lifestyle. What kicked off truly frugal living for us was having DS, who was born prematurely, and discovering our employer provided health insurance wasn't very good. We owed a massive hospital bill after the insurance paid.

DH's parents died within a year of each other when DS was a toddler and left a life insurance policy that allowed us to pay off our debts and DH to return to school to retrain for a new career. Around about that time, I discovered The Tightwad Gazette newsletter, which allowed us to live on a very small amount of money for a couple of years.

We have remained quite frugal ever since, with the ability to crank it up as needed to get through times when there is a demand on our finances. We've been doing this so long that anything else would feel completely weird.
Mackie
alliesmama4
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Re: What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by alliesmama4 »

I grew up in a frugal home with parents that were born during the depression. I never really had a good paying job due to working at a not for profit hospital. Even after going to college and getting a degree to become a physical therapist assistant I returned to the same hospital that did not pay that much. I had a sense of loyalty to the hospital because I was frequently ill and off of work for long periods of time. Yet they still kept me on. I have been ill with various medical problems since I was 19. When I was 53 I was forced in to early retirement due to medical problems I am now 76 almost 77 and still dealing with medical issues. However with Social Security and a tiny pension I am still in need of being frugal. I lost my medical insurance for about 2 years between the time I retired and was able to get on SS and Medicare. At times my medicine bills exceeded my monthly pension so I had to put things on my credit cards to get by. It has taken me literally 2 decades to try to get out of debt. Last year I paid off the two largest credit cards and just have one left but it is affordable and I can manage on my income. The frugal need never goes away but I do feel somewhat better about doing things instead of thinking about every penny and dime.
Janet Alliesmama
SandiSAHM
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Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Oklahoma

Re: What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by SandiSAHM »

My father was brought up poor in the northeastern US. Mom was brought up poor in WW2 and post-WW2 France (she was born in 1939). Dad was more likely to spend (particularly on things they couldn't afford when he was young - like prepared foods; it was odd), Mom was more likely to say, "Don't replace it, fix it," and since Dad could fix anything, he usually did as he was told :lol:. I got mixed signals regarding $.

I married at 22 and for a long time was half of a "DINK" (double income, no kids) couple - we spent a LOT of money on stupid things, but in the back of my head was a "we should save..." thing whereas ex-h (in his defense, his parents squeaked by, so when he finally "had money" he spent it in ways his folks never would have) didn't really have that 'til the day a friend (CFO at my then-employer) gave him a talking-to about finances along with a copy of an investment magazine, whereupon a monster was born, LOL. In the divorce, I ended up with a chunk of short and long term investments and a big house, because once he was a VP he had to 'look the part.'

A few years later in a smaller house, I met DH. He spent $ like it was water, and on stupid stuff. Despite our differences (age, $ ideas, food preferences, the list goes on) and my telling him flat-out "this isn't going to work," he said he'd do whatever it takes. Got married, THEN...we had DD. At 3mos, she went to daycare. That did not go well, and we became convinced she needed to be at home, so we sat down and looked at the $ and decided that as a mid-20s male with and engineering degree his career was going UP, whereas as a mid-30s female with a child (my management at the time was not "mom-friendly") and a degree that has nothing to do with her line of work, I was the best "at home" parent option. So I left the job that brought in 55% of our $ and we moved, to a cheaper house with lower taxes and more land so he could put in a garden; stayed there 12 years. Between the time we made the decision and my house was sold, I 1) found the about.com Frugal Living forum and read EVERYTHING implementing quite a bit and 2) the day I turned in my resignation I went back to my desk and my phone was ringing... it was my former boss. He said, "how are things going?" and I said "Funny you should ask, I just quit," and he immediately said "Oh! You need to come work for me!" and I told him I can't leave this state due to DH's job and college classes, and he said, "No, I mean work from home, you can get into my system from there."

Those two things combined saved our biscuits, I believe - It was actually God who put those 2 things together, and His timing was perfect. That work helped bridge the financial gap until DH changed jobs (DH worked a 2nd job as a waiter for a while during my 2nd pregnancy) and then DS was walking, and I couldn't handle work, pre-K for DD and a toddler at the same time so I had to let the work go. (Note: we'd looked at the local school system and nixed it in favor of homeschooling).

A bit over 3 years ago that same former boss called and said "Your kids have to be old enough now you can come back to work, right?" just as I was mulling the idea of working again. So, I work from home for him again.

For a while there, it was WILD. There were months I'd do the math with the bills, taking tithe and offering off the top, and when I thought the ends couldn't meet, every. single. time. they did, with a little extra to spare. Which I put in savings.

I've done almost everything, LOL - once a month cooking, cooking for the purpose of packing lunches, refurbishing then reselling furniture, bartering instead of buying, bought 2nd hand clothes for the kids when they were younger (and then resold it again when they outgrew it), bought diapers 1/2 price from this warehouse that had them in bulk, bought generic where it made sense - discovered Aldi in 2002, THAT was something - fixed instead of replacing everything that went wrong and was reparable, remodeled the house we were in for 12 years from top to bottom with 80-85% of the labor being ours (the roofers were the other 17ish%), that place was gorgeous when we sold it - DH's new commute was untenable.

tl;dr: we had a baby and I sahm'd, so we had to cut every possible expense.
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Mrscreative
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Re: What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by Mrscreative »

Out of necessity, my mother could stretch a penny until it squealed so I have to credit her with teaching me a lot about frugality. At the same time she was very generous and never wanted us to perceive ourselves as poor. I grew up on a farm and we were self sufficient with potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, beets, onions in the winter. My mother preserved a lot of fruits and we made lots of different kinds of pickles, relish and chutneys. We also had our own milk, cream, butter, eggs, chicken, turkey, beef and pork. We had a huge garden and actually sold sacks of root vegetables along with what we grew for ourselves. Seasonal veggies like peas, corn, lettuce, cucumbers, green onions, beans were enjoyed to the fullest. We grew a LOT of strawberries and raspberries and sold these on the side as well. Our orchard provided us with a large variety of apples, pears, plums and currents. Also gooseberries.

My father would spend money on some more frivolous stuff such as having a tv when very few others had one. He had a penchant for cars as well. I do remember as a child going for long periods without tv, as we couldn’t afford the new tube.

All of my clothing and toys were second hand, compliments of a cousin. I would receive a new toy and outfit every Christmas and usually a new pair of shoes as well.

My hubby and I bought a house immediately after graduation from university so the first few years money was definitely tight. We furnished most of our house with second hand furniture and slept in two sleeping bags zipped together for at least six months before we found a suitable second hand bedroom suite which we still have!

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clemencia2us
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Re: What Started You On Your Frugal Path?

Post by clemencia2us »

It happened when I had to move to Oklahoma.

In the Air Force we are paid a housing allowance depending on rank and zip code of the base. So I was getting over 1300 a month. My house payment was less than half that - so I had "extra" money. That helped pay the utilities too. They used to make you take in your rental or mortgage contract and pay you that amount, but they did away and just gave a flat rate.

Anyway in Oklahoma since it was such a low cost of living zip code - my allowance was 600 dollars!!! And I still had my home mortgage to pay. And now also rent an apartment - so yea I had to bite the bullet - :mrgreen:

And the COD had to retire and his pay was cut in half basically, so couldn't contribute as much.

I found this site after a co-worker told me about it - early 2000s
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