Why did you start to be frugal?

[shelbylovesmelby]

I grew up poor so being frugal was a necessity not a choice!

Add me to the list.

Plus having family that were hoarders & grew up in the depression they kept everything & knew how to reuse as much as possible like they did in the old country as well. Hence why you may of had a grand parent or great grandparent who at Tongue, Pigs feet ect. & most modern people would find repulsive, but they used every inch of an animal they possibly could.

[nanamom]

I didn't know anything when I first got married. I had some very hard lessons over the years. We are very very far behind in retirement money, EF, and just plain savings but we have made a start. It is hard to not be closer to family but we need to become financially sound before we can consider job hunting again.

[timzagain]

I come from a long line of frugal people. My mom was one of 8 kids in a single income household. I'm yet to figure out how my grandparents achieved it but they enjoyed a better lifestyle than most families with half as many children! My father's upbringing was very similar although his family was smaller.

Between my parents' backgrounds and the financial challenges we faced, I was also raised in a very frugal household. I fell off the frugal wagon in a big way, when I first started working. Then I got married and went from being a single parent of one, to a married mom of 4 thanks to our blended family, just months before losing my job! DH and I have been through alternating periods of unemployment or underemployment, so we have had no choice but to be frugal.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Grew up frugal but not poor. Same with DH, our parents were immigrants without much so..well frugal it was.

[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.