How old were you when you "discovered" frugality?

pomdarryl · 12-23-2007, 06:38 PM

Most people learned about frugality from their parents. Some from more affluent backgrounds don't get it until college. That's when you start storing/stealing apples from the cafeteria (for later) and begin to consider ketchup as one of the major food groups.

I was lucky to have a pretty nice job while going to college, so I didn't actually think about frugality until after I got married. My wife wanted to save for a house right away. She was not going to put up with any $4 Starbucks coffee habit.

I fought her quite a bit. But looking back it was all worth it. I'm very glad she made me change my spending habits.

When did you discover this fancy "frugal living" idea?

lazy23 · 12-23-2007, 06:43 PM

I came from a pretty big family (4 kids lots of cousins) so my parents taught us a lot about frugality ever since we were kids.

At least I absorbed the lessons. For some reason I don't think my siblings learned the same frugal lessons as I did. Maybe it's because I'm the oldest and my parents let me see a bit more of the behind-the-scenes financial decisions they make.

imagine girl · 12-23-2007, 07:42 PM

When I discovered that my dream is to live in a beautiful house with my boyfriend after we get married.

beren · 12-23-2007, 08:11 PM

It was when I discovered how much I hated working.

NYC4ever · 12-23-2007, 08:56 PM

when my next paycheck is still 3 days away!

NYC4ever · 12-23-2007, 09:00 PM

seriously though it's about priorities. i need a new bed soon. it's killing my back. so my painful back reminded me to NOT buy a wii. i don't know when i "discovered" frugality... i guess my circumstances just made me do it. if i could afford the new bed and the wii... i wouldn't be so frugal!

Philip Brewer · 12-24-2007, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pomdarryl

When did you discover this fancy "frugal living" idea?

I wrote a bit about the first person I met who practiced "voluntary simplicity" here:

Voluntary simplicity versus poverty | Wise Bread

Even after that, though, I came to the ideas myself very gradually. I graduated from college in 1981 and had a negative net worth (student loans and credit card debts) until about 1986, when I finally made it up to zero. (It didn't take so long because I had huge student loan debts. It was because I kept buying stuff.)

I guess what really pushed me into serious frugality was a financial catastrophe in about 1991, when my house became uninhabitable. We had to move into an apartment, so we were paying all the house-related expenses plus all the apartment-related expenses for about a year. We got very frugal then.

The insurance did eventually pay off, but by then we'd found that we were rather happy with our more-frugal lifestyle.

kav122 · 12-24-2007, 08:43 AM

I was lucky enough to not be wealthy growing up, but not poor either. My parents were middle class folks, that could afford to buy groceries but could not afford to pay for my first car or college tuition. I feel lucky that we were in that range because we didn't have a LOT of money, so I learned the value of sewing a button on rather than tossing the shirt, but we had ENOUGH money (or my parents had enough financial sense) to educate me about the perils of payday loans and credit cards. I am a frugal person partly because my mom is, partly because that is the way I was wired, partly because I want to do better things with my money than blow it, and partly because I feel a deep sadness for the over-spending of Americans when there are people all over that "make do" with less than a tenth of what we have.

mydebtquest · 12-24-2007, 11:24 AM

Growing up, my parents made a very comfortable living. I had everything I ever needed and got everything I wanted and needed. Going off on my own was a bit of a shock, and for years I tried to maintain that same lifestyle. Unfortunately, my income didn't quite cover it, so the credit cards made up the difference.

Only in the last two years, since getting married, has frugality become a part of our lifestyle - in fact, my wife is still adjusting to the idea.

Billyum · 12-31-2007, 10:26 PM

Learning about frugality was a added bonus to my divorce.

She got the house, she got the kids, she got the Caddy and she got a clean credit rating.

On the other hand, I got the gate, I got the bills . . . credit cards about $4500.00 (which in those days was a lot of money), no place to live, beater car, no furniture.

(Cue the music)
Time for a rude awakening while entering the steep 'this is the real life' learning curve and an introduction to a new and better way of living.

You don't have to have EVERYTHING, when you do get some of the necessities, they don't have to be brand new, if you can't pay cash, wait until you can ! ! !

12-23-2007, 06:38 PM	#1
pomdarryl Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Reputation: (10)	How old were you when you "discovered" frugality? Most people learned about frugality from their parents. Some from more affluent backgrounds don't get it until college. That's when you start storing/stealing apples from the cafeteria (for later) and begin to consider ketchup as one of the major food groups. I was lucky to have a pretty nice job while going to college, so I didn't actually think about frugality until after I got married. My wife wanted to save for a house right away. She was not going to put up with any $4 Starbucks coffee habit. I fought her quite a bit. But looking back it was all worth it. I'm very glad she made me change my spending habits. When did you discover this fancy "frugal living" idea?

12-31-2007, 10:26 PM	#10
Billyum Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2 Reputation: (10)	Frugality 101 Learning about frugality was a added bonus to my divorce. She got the house, she got the kids, she got the Caddy and she got a clean credit rating. On the other hand, I got the gate, I got the bills . . . credit cards about $4500.00 (which in those days was a lot of money), no place to live, beater car, no furniture. (Cue the music) Time for a rude awakening while entering the steep 'this is the real life' learning curve and an introduction to a new and better way of living. You don't have to have EVERYTHING, when you do get some of the necessities, they don't have to be brand new, if you can't pay cash, wait until you can ! ! !

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12-23-2007, 06:43 PM	#2
lazy23 Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 40 Reputation: (12)	I came from a pretty big family (4 kids lots of cousins) so my parents taught us a lot about frugality ever since we were kids. At least I absorbed the lessons. For some reason I don't think my siblings learned the same frugal lessons as I did. Maybe it's because I'm the oldest and my parents let me see a bit more of the behind-the-scenes financial decisions they make.

12-23-2007, 07:42 PM	#3
imagine girl Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 53 Reputation: (12)	When I discovered that my dream is to live in a beautiful house with my boyfriend after we get married.

12-23-2007, 08:11 PM	#4
beren Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 53 Reputation: (17)	It was when I discovered how much I hated working.

12-23-2007, 08:56 PM	#5
NYC4ever Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 14 Reputation: (10)	when my next paycheck is still 3 days away!

12-23-2007, 09:00 PM	#6
NYC4ever Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 14 Reputation: (10)	seriously though it's about priorities. i need a new bed soon. it's killing my back. so my painful back reminded me to NOT buy a wii. i don't know when i "discovered" frugality... i guess my circumstances just made me do it. if i could afford the new bed and the wii... i wouldn't be so frugal!

12-24-2007, 08:43 AM	#8
kav122 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 444 Reputation: (186)	I was lucky enough to not be wealthy growing up, but not poor either. My parents were middle class folks, that could afford to buy groceries but could not afford to pay for my first car or college tuition. I feel lucky that we were in that range because we didn't have a LOT of money, so I learned the value of sewing a button on rather than tossing the shirt, but we had ENOUGH money (or my parents had enough financial sense) to educate me about the perils of payday loans and credit cards. I am a frugal person partly because my mom is, partly because that is the way I was wired, partly because I want to do better things with my money than blow it, and partly because I feel a deep sadness for the over-spending of Americans when there are people all over that "make do" with less than a tenth of what we have.

12-24-2007, 11:24 AM	#9
mydebtquest Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Clifton Park, NY Posts: 23 Reputation: (10)	Growing up, my parents made a very comfortable living. I had everything I ever needed and got everything I wanted and needed. Going off on my own was a bit of a shock, and for years I tried to maintain that same lifestyle. Unfortunately, my income didn't quite cover it, so the credit cards made up the difference. Only in the last two years, since getting married, has frugality become a part of our lifestyle - in fact, my wife is still adjusting to the idea.