Why did you start to be frugal?

[creditcardfree]

My husband brought $10K + of failed business debt that was on credit cards to our marriage. Not a fun way to begin. We tightened down our expenses to pay it off as soon as possible. That lesson showed us that watching our expenses can help us meet our goals, whether they are to get rid of debt, invest, buy a house or car, ect.

[Ima saver]

It is a good thing to start young. I can remember how much money I spent the first year of my first marriage, on clothes. $4, that's it!
By the 2nd year of my marriage, I owned a new house (with a mortgage of course)

[Saving in So Cal]

I come from a long line of spendthrifts. In addition, my first full-time job paid more than anyone in my family had ever made. I let my earning power go to my head and lived paycheck to paycheck, with no savings and substantial (at least for that time) credit card and student loan debts. Then, I suffered an injury that required surgery and 6 weeks off work. I was fortunate to have disability insurance, but it was only 2/3 of my normal income. I had to call creditors and ask for extensions, which thankfully I got. It was both humiliating and eye-opening because I realized for the first time that I had no safety net. I was the best one off in my family. No one would be able to help me if I fell on hard times. So, I started paying off my debts and saving money. It took me several years to dig myself out of the whole and I would never consider going back to my old ways. As an earlier poster said, having a handle on your spending/saving gives you an incredible peace of mind.

[kateochang]

Because I realize that money doesn't fall from the sky and spending on junks just doesn't pay off my hard work effort from the salary I earned.

Since that I became frugal

[corns]

because i wanted to pay off my debt.

[Ima saver]

It is amazing to look back over the years and see all the money you have wasted buying things you don't really need. I am glad to see so many of you younger people trying to save and not wasting your money.

[BCHGRL]

I would say that I became thrifty when I purchased my home and got married. The fact that the previous owners of my home made a $92K profit by owning this home less than 2 years with no improvements, I was awakened to financial responsibility. That stung so badly that I never want to walk away feeling like a financial fool or saying "if only. . . ."

BTW - hi to all my frugal friends. I have been away for awhile. I just finished my first semester in my masters programs and the two courses I had were what else but FINANCE! Now that I think about it, it was silly of me not to visit this board because I could have obtained so much valuable information for class. Oh well. If you need to know anything about Net Present Value, Annual Worth, Marginal Rate of Return, etc, etc, give me a holler. I learned more about engineering economics than I ever wanted to know but it might come in handy with personal finances one day.

[genmed]

I think I've always been a bit frugal... as in the case of some of the previous posters I grew up poor...

But now I've been doing even more "frugal" living as I've gone back to school and we are living on one income, trying to pay off the couple of student loans I have and not take out any more.

Even when I start working (next year!) I think we'll keep living like this, because:
(a) I'd like to get the house paid off within the next 4-5 years
(b) I'd like to be able to "optionally" retire early... probably won't, but just like the idea of being able to
(c) I don't like having a lot of "things" -- too much effort to clean, keep organized, etc... rather be hiking/camping/biking any day...

[Ima saver]

I became frugal because I enjoy eating !!

[nitajaye]

I grew up with a parent who was raised in the depression era. She was very frugal, it drove me nuts. When I moved out I rebelled and lived life the way I wanted to. Now jump ahead and past many mistakes (some I am still paying for) and hard times and I am a single adoptive mom. I am frugal now because I feel it is the right thing to do and I want to spend more time with my children than I do worrying about money.

The best part is that I did not have to learn how to be frugal I just had to remember what mom did while I was growing up. And the kicker is, I realized life was not so bad back then. I hope my children will feel the same way when they are grown.

[pjmama]

I grew up in a middle class neighborhood, with a semi-frugal mom. I've watched her use coupons, shop at Aldi's and Save a Lot (Who can afford to shop at giant eagle for 5 people??), and once I was planning to move out of the house, I knew I needed to [really] take hold of my finances. Now that I am living on my own, I need to juggle school, work, and bills. It helps to keep track of what you've got! I like the challenge of saving as well... though at times I dont succeed as much as I would like to.

[Ima saver]

I have learned to enjoy NOT going shopping!! That helps a lot.

[Aleta]

Ima: I'm with you. I have finally realized all of the trappings out there. I went to Target the other day and you know how they have everything totally coordinated and you start thinking - that would be so nice for the summer. Mistake 1. They do a great job, and you have to be smarter to know that it's just another thing for you to get rid of one day.

I'm trying to stay out of the stores, but I'm a new grandmother and that is a whole new world for me right now. When I see something cute, I'm really tempted.

[Cassandra]

I grew up with a pretty affluent lifestyle, but financial diaster struck about a year ago. I was suddenly required to stand up almost completely for myself: that included paying my car insurance, gas (doesn't sound like much, but before my parents usually paid for my gas), and even helped out with the household bills amongst other things. Budgeting soon became a frequent word in my vocabulary.

It took awhile to get used to but now that I'm living frugally, I realized how much happier you become when you live simplisticly.

Cassandra

[Aleta]

I've always said that our circumstances direct most of our decisions and actions. You'll either make lemonade out of lemons or you'll whine. My son is always talking about what a good shopper I am. It is because we had very little money and didn't have a secure income and no family support. It taught me to stack up on food, toiletries, house supplies, etc. Also, living in a hurricane prone state is a learning experience in itself.

[jhoylman]

I've always been frugal, and my wife is a spender. So my frugalness offsets her spending habits. Luckily my frugal ways are starting to rub off on her!

[Aleta]

Do you notice that the vast majority of us marry our opposites. Someone has to be the saver if the other one is the spender.

[wellheeled]

I certainly don't consider myself frugal (dining out is my (delicious) downfall). But I started caring about personal finance a year ago, when I started reading personal finance blogs. That's when I realized I have a tremendous advantage on my side (time - I'm 22), and that if I start investing right away, compounding interest is going to be amazing for me.

Of course, to be able to invest, one must first save. So that's how I realized that I need to have my priorities straight when it comes to spending. I don't have a new car and I won't be getting cable, although I always make allowances for food. After all, we are what we eat.

[Fern]

1. necessity. I've been single all my life, and i really didn't start earning decent money until around age 32, so i learned to be frugal cus i had to.

2. the influence of my grandparents, who worked hard and saved much.

3. growing up lower-middle class in a single parent household: this also teaches you to be frugal. My mother rationed toilet paper for gosh sakes. (She's mortified about that now.)

[sakigt]

I have always been frugal, but I usually spent my savings on other things.

Now Im being frugal to pay down debt and save.