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Are you frugal?

Are you frugal? Do you count your pennies? Do you save things that most people discard, so they can be used again? Do you scrap the Peanut Butter jar as clean as I do? (See photo) Is your frugality a result of your income or just who you are?

I'm frugal primarily out of necessity. It's not a problem for me, in fact, I've embraced it. I've learned a lot about myself and realize I don't need most of the stuff I use to have. As a result, my broke ass is happier today than when I had a good income and a house full of "stuff".

"Photography" Group

BeeHappy 9 Jan 23
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27 comments

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6

I'm a bit of a paradox. I can be frugal with the little stuff (e.g. not wasting food), but I can get carried away with big stuff (e.g. a new car).

I think my dog could get that peanut butter jar a bit cleaner.

I bet he could! ?

5

I'm frugal and better at it than my mother ever was. I bring in little money and have more left than people who make lots of money. My place is modest and nice without frills. I'm in a mobile home on a half acre in a small city. My "stuff" is very important to me but it might bore you to death. I do what I have always liked to do since I was young. I'm an 18 year old inside a 72 year old body. I got older and I learned but I never grew up.

Good on you! ?

4

I try not to be wasteful. I would say I am frugal in some areas but not others. My children wear handle downs and my friends and sisters and I pass clothes around between our boys. We mostly eat at home but I’m not militant about it and we go out occasionally. We eat leftovers and have β€œempty the fridge and pantry meal” nights. I do have a newish car (2 years) and we take a nice vacation every year. I look for bargains and sales and buy things at thrift shops and goodwilll but I also will get something just because I want it from time to time. I’d say I’m probably in the middle.

Leftovers, yes! It kills me to throw away spoiled food.

@BeeHappy me too!! Being a working mom leftovers can be a lifesaver. Some things are just better the second day anyway. ?

@Christiep77 πŸ’˜

4

I'm a North of England British woman. I can feed a family of five for a week on Β£20! Oh yes...charity shop clothes, reuse everything, secondhand furniture and I live off a very small fixed amount every week.

Just like me - living on a state pension you don't have alot of choice but to be frugal, but I seem to have passed it on to my much wealthier children who are great charity shop users and food bargain hunters. But for them it is the principle as much as the money!

4

I was raised to be careful and responsible with money and other resources. I love to get a bargain. And in my family, when we get a really good deal,
We say β€œGrandma would be proud!”

Love that!?

4

I'm frugal enough to lick the inside of that jar.

I've never licked it but my finger goes in there when I've gotten everything the knife will get. ?

What after the dog has had a go at it.

@Jolanta I'm not picky. Why not.

3

'Frugal' has never been associated with me, for sure! I made a deal with myself to lessen stress, so I don't worry about pennies up to a few dollars. I don't drive around town wasting gas while trying to save .04 cents a gallon. I don't scour every label trying to save pennies, and all coupons go straight into the recycle bin. If I need something, conveinience means more to me than price. It just isn't worth it to me to worry about minutiae.

3

I prefer to think of it as conservation minded. I don't like waste. That includes spending money for things I don't need. Do I need the top of the line this? Will this thing just sit on a shelf? My ex used to tease me if I bought a souvenir on vacation. If it really meant something to me yes, but I never saw a reason to get dust collectors. It also means turning of lights, not wasting water, etc.

I agree!

3

No, not much. πŸ˜€

2

I am frugal, was pretty much brought up that way. But I've refined it. I was brought up with the saying "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." However, I had many years of abundance and got away from that. Being on my own and unemployed for a while I got back into stretching the dollars as much as I could. I make my own Peanut Butter, I cook from scratch, I sell what I don't need, I grow my own when I can, I keep my house cooler in winter and warmer in summer, I plan my trips, I use the library instead of buying books, etc. I enjoy it.

I enjoy it most of the time. Occasionally, I wish the money wasn't so tight. ?

@BeeHappy Well, there is that. If I don't think about the lack of money I'm much happier.

@HippieChick58 Yep! ?

2

Frugal is relative...as is stingy, miserly, spendy, et.al...some people are very aware and attentive to their money supply and make conscious choices as to where to deploy.
If I scape the peanut butter jar clean, unthinking people will say "frugal!"...I say, I will prefer to spend that extra two sandwiches cost elsewhere(that maybe is unimportant to you).

Well said.

2

I think I'm frugal, yes. That is not to say I don't occasionally purchase something I could live without; but I don't buy stuff just to fill some vaguely acquisitive impulse. In the last couple of years I've embraced a minimalist attitude, and am always seeking ways to cut expenses, and deny the identification with "things."

I work toward that too.

2

Frugality is about making smart choices. Instead of eating that ridiculously expensive boxed cereal I eat feed wheat, intended for livestock. Sometimes I salvage roadkill. I garden.

By cutting costs in numerous small ways a person can enjoy a sense of wealth and bounty, always having money for pleasure or to invest and grow.

2

Post WWII UK austerity. It was part of life. Now because some silly git has made popular tv shows it is known as hoarding and living in cluttered premises.
I remember my mother washing out plastic bags in order to be able to reuse them! Woollen jumpers and coats had leather patches sewn onto elbows to protect them or holes were darned as were socks.

And no you would not have passed muster with your jar. It still has half a teaspoon in it. Try running your finger round the glass as far as it will reach and then take a ball of bread on a fork and wipe the bottom clean! ?

I was thinking that

I still mend and darn. Worn out towels have the good bits cut out for use as face cloths (after hemming) and the ragged bits are paint rags.

@CeliaVL My mother stripped old towels down for use as sanitary towels.

@CeliaVL I still patch jeans and have been known to perversely darn special woollen socks.

@FrayedBear I quite enjoy darning socks. For some strange reason if you have darns in your socks people admire them, but if you have a darn in your jumper it is looked down on.

@CeliaVL Stupid Snobs.
And just what the "slashed jeans" at a $1000 per pair crew think of my patched holes I have never bothered to enquire. Actually you have just given me an idea for an opening line in the checkout queue "Hey, you in the holey legged jeans. Yes you! Are you too lazy or untrained to patch those holes showing your fat/thin/gorgeous white/brown/suntanned legs? Or just too poor?"

@FrayedBear Yes, the ripped jeans fashion really offends me.

2

Yes I am.

2

My wife is frugal, but I am not. However, I am not extravagant. I cook instead of eating out, wear inexpensive clothes, and we drive a car for many years; we had a Prius for 15 years.

2

I try to be as much as possible.
I detest wasting much of anything.
Although, I've had to start asking myself, when tempted to save something in case I "might use it for something later", "am I REALLY going to do anything with that, or is it just going to end up taking up space?"

Yes, that's a tough one to answer sometimes.

1

I am frugal by nature, whether my income is low or those times when it has been quite high. I am value-driven, and as a minimalist since well before it became a thing have far fewer things than most people. I bought a winter coat on sale at Nordstrom, and still have it 15 years later. I spent a lot on my one pair of men's dress shoes, but they are over 10 years old. (I take care of them) I could go on, but frugal to me does not mean cheap. Even if limited in income you can save by buying quality items.
I do not waste food, just once in the last year and even then it was probably OK but I did not want to take a risk.

1

No that can be disgusting!!!@!!!

1

No, I am not. I don't lose sleep over things that won't matter when I kick it. Now, I like to be efficient though

I think efficiency is kin to frugality.

@BeeHappy then I am ???

1

I got that way through religion. I thought I should play my part in taking care of the earth even if a new world was coming to replace it. It was practice for later. I still do it, using everything fully, disposing everything where it should go - the garbage, the recycle or the biodegradable.

Well, religion was good for something, huh? ?

1

A friend of my son came to our house to.play a few years back. He picked up a dime that was under the coffee table, says, "I found a dime!"and put it in his pocket.
This was bizarre to me until I realized that in his home no dimes are on the floor, they are all in an account somewhere, probably applied to his dad's student loan interest.
Perspective is everything.

Yes.

1

Yup. Aside from other frugal habits, I rarely buy things I don't need.(Plants don't count, ha ha.)

BTW, if you answered "yes", you might be interested in joining the "minimalism" Group.

Thanks.

@BeeHappy Yowelkum.

1

Like most things with me I gravitate to both extremes. I have old moisture wicking tshirts and instead of throwing them out I went on youtube and learned to make beanies or skull caps. I very often refuse to buy something if I can make it. On the other hand I buy anything in the grocery store that looks like fun and often never get around to cooking it so I have to throw it out. I get a charge out of figuring out a way to repurpose things that are too old or broken to be used for thier original purpose. So Yes I am frugal at heart but it doesn't translate to every aspect of my life..

It's difficult being 100%. Sounds like you give it a good effort.

1

Trained growing up to be frugal, so can if necessary. Can spend, too, if it’s something quality ..that I can wear (for example) to rags πŸ™‚

Varn Level 8 Jan 24, 2019
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