Why did you start to be frugal?

[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.

[honeichild]

When I finally realized how much debt I had. And now I get a sincere joy out of finding ways to save money.

[Ima saver]

It is actually fun to save money to me!

[savingandinvesting]

Being frugal

It is so much more satisfying than spending money on something that one does not appreciate a few hours after the purchase.

[Ima saver]

I really don't enjoy buying that many things!!

[Aleta]

I like buying something once in a while and usually it's just a small little thing, but I see how useless alot of this stuff is. My son and wife always bring something back from whereever they travel and they are now giving items of food stuffs. I love it and it doesn't go to waste.

[feh]

It's just the way I'm wired. I don't like wasting anything (food, electricity, money, etc).

For me, it has more to do with waste in general, whether it affects my finances or not. As an example, I work in an office, and if I walk past an empty conference room, I make sure the lights are turned off.