I grew up hovering just above truly poor, and saw a lot of “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” As any child of the 80’s and 90’s would tell you, being “poor” was socially unacceptable.

When I moved out on my own, I wanted nothing to do with that lifestyle. I had my own money, and I could afford things now.

And now that I’m married, with a child, and approaching thirty, I finally see the value in all the things my mother taught me. I now live frugal so someday I can quit my 9-5 and chase my dreams.

I have since planted a garden that consist of fruits, potatoes, rhubarbs and any other edible that I can find. I live in the North East so it is pretty hard to get food grown in the winter, but, during summer we have so much fruits and veggies that we don’t really need to go to the stores to get them.

I buy bulk and I like shopping at the thrift stores for neccesities. I also cook our meals from scratch including pizzas, tortilla, marshmallow and anything that tickle our fancy. No package meals for us.

Our family of 3 is able to live comfortably on $24,000 a year including our house loan which amounts to $12,000 annually. We even manage to build up a healthy nest egg just in case we needed it.

We spend more money during winter because of heat but insulation goes a long way in cutting down our bills.

I save everything because in Asia we are taught to not waste anything. I am trying to instill this in our son and so far it is working. He is 5 and he can recite the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle. And he puts every container he eats from into the sink so that I can wash it and use it again.

Maybe the next generation will get back to basics and learn to use their imagination again instead of their money.

“… check out this post by Jennifer at Personal Finance Advice …”