How did you enter the world of frugality

Being frugal recently happened to me. It all started when I saw the commercial about the free pack of Dentyne Ice gum. I went online and signed up for the offer. After that I wondered what other samples were out their so I did a search and came across savingadvice.com Before that saving money never occured to me.

[flinnie]

When you come into this world poor...there is no other way to be than frugal.My family is very big six sister and one brother.My mom was a stay at home mom takeing care of her home and
kids so with one income we did without a lot of thing we always had a big garden;chickens;
a pig or two but,very few new thing.Growing up frugal has stuck with me my whole life.

[sarah]

How did I become frugal. I am not sure. It is an interesting question. I have always had a fascination with money. I grew up Poor and Hungry. Maybe that is the root of it. I have read a lot of money management a nd frugal books. Long before the tihgtwad Gazette. I was one of the subscribers to the original newsletter before the books were published. Of course I have a lot of trouble putting theory into practice. However, I now have a workable 5 year plan. If I can just stick to it.

[amberbamber]

Originally Posted by boefixepa

Wow, a triple seated thread! It seems that this is a topic that pops up often.

I get mine from a desire to NOT do things like my parents. It's been a heard learning curve and there were meany fugal things my parents did, I know realize, because they really had no other choice. That is not why I want to make these changes in my life.

Unfortuantely my parents, now in their mid fifties, are both working full time and just purchased what they hope to be their retirement home....but it has a FULL mortgage and they have basically NO retirement money. So I really don't think they will stop working anytime soon. I doubt my mom has even earned enough credits over her lifetime to accuire full SS retirement benifits and I am not sure she makes enough or has enough time to do so. She was a SAHM, and a good one! Shame that they get the short end of the stick in that area....

I just remember as a child feeling like I had no security and seeing all the stress and worry my parents went through, I didn't want to live that life. So I made the choice to make a change.

Ditto...plus I made the decision to become a SAHM and I didn't want to burden my husband with all the money issues.

Growing up I learned the value of work. I was that kid with the paper route, mowing lawns, washing cars, and babysitting. But looking back I realize I didn't have an understanding of what to do with my money. which is why I spent it.

I became more aware of the necessity of being a frugalite because I had a free trial of Microsoft Money that let me see where my money was going. 30% of my income was going to restaurants! After realizing how much I could save on just fast food I stopped my spendy ways.

Good thing too! I was needing to get back to the gym!

Originally Posted by PriceLimbo

Growing up I learned the value of work. I was that kid with the paper route, mowing lawns, washing cars, and babysitting. But looking back I realize I didn't have an understanding of what to do with my money. which is why I spent it.

I became more aware of the necessity of being a frugalite because I had a free trial of Microsoft Money that let me see where my money was going. 30% of my income was going to restaurants! After realizing how much I could save on just fast food I stopped my spendy ways.

Good thing too! I was needing to get back to the gym!

Haha xD That's cute. I didn't realize either that I was spending on useless junk. I wonder how much I'd save if I had knew the world of frugality sooner. Probably more than now.

[MonkeyMama]

Very inspiring thread.

I feel kind of less worthy because it was just how I Was raised - I know no different. Though I feel very blessed. But I really admire people who have the strength to turn frugal coming from a non-frugal background. Or to dig their way out of large debt or harsh financial circumstances.

My parents of course were frugal coming from a very poor background. They carried on their frugal ways even when they "made it" and taught me their ways as well. OVerall I feel most of the time I feel like I have twice the lifestyle of those around me on 1/2 the money so I can't say why I would do any different.

[Bookie]

Screaming and kicking, if the truth be known.

Like most of my secular virtues, frugality was thrust upon me by necessity. Only after did it make the transition from necessity to habit, and from habit to hobby.

I was brought up in a frugal household, went hog-wild when I had the chance, and reaped a bitter harvest. That I live frugally today is less a matter of virtue than the product of experience.

"Experience keeps a hard school, but fools will learn in no other."

[rusty@saving]

i got frugal out of desperation. i had a job for about 2 years that paid the bare minimum, lived on canned tune(protein), ramen(carbs), and milk and cereal(dairy&grains) from Aldi's. about 2$-$3/day on food. i was still unable to save any $. literally to the last penny every week. then i came here and started doing some simple things, and then i slowely started saving a little at a time. if i only saved $1 in a week...it was something.
thankfully, i just got a better job, full time, the works. i am trying to stay frugal and not buy things i don't need and make sure i NEVER get in that situation ever again!

[shelbylovesmelby]

I was also raised to be somewhat frugal.... moreso because we were on the poor side of things & my mom never really worked much & relied on her couponing, frugality, and dumpster diving to suppliment her income from Social Security. Life maybe would of been a lil easier in my childhood provided my father didn't pass away when I was 4.

Now days just gotta be frugal to survive unless someone knows the winning lotto #'s or has a 6 figure job they'd be willing to hire dh for *LOL*

[naturallyadiva]

Its still an everyday struggle with me but I just want to be able to make wiser money choices and use what I have more often. I think being frugal is an interesting and fun lifestyle.

[tinapbeana]

I must admit I am mostly blessed in the area of frugal family. My mother is one of 6 kids who grew up on a farm, her mom was one of 7 who grew up as share croppers during the depression. As you might imagine: HOLY COW are we a frugal family!

At the same time, I feel almost like the spendthrift of the lot, which is no fun at all. IMO, I've let them down by getting into debt when I was in college (even though it's not something most everyone even knows about). Granted, I was the first one to go to college, but that's neither here nor there.

DH comes from an exceedingly frugal family too: a SAHM and father who is a pastor/contractor. Even now they make less than 20k per year and live quite well. And that leads to my confusion, b/c DH is quite the spendy personality type, and feels if there's enough in the checking account to cover it, we can certainly afford X. ARRRRGH!