How many people here live frugally?

dankbar

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 6:04 pm

Frugal is one thing. Stingy is another. I know some wealthy people that are so stingy that it shreklich! It horrified me, that I learned never to act that way! They have no pleasure during lifetime....& the money didn't help them by death either because they were so stingy!

It's not about how much money you have....some people only talk abt the money the money....not everything is about money....there are some things more important than money....even when you don't have money .....not every conversation has to revolve around money!

dankbar

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 6:08 pm

Also when it only affects you, go live your life, but not when it affects others.

amother

Babyblue

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 6:32 pm

amother wrote:

We also lease because we put 100,000+ miles per year and doing that to a car you own would just be ridiculous.

Huh? How do u get a lease with that many miles? I would assume ppl who drive that much but second hand and sell often, upgrading.

ectomorph

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 7:07 pm

My husband put together our car from scratch. He paid the melt price at the junkyard

ectomorph

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 7:11 pm

ectomorph wrote:

Dankbar, we renovated our kitchen exclusively out of wood and materials our kids collected for lag ba'omer.

our house in brooklyn has only the necessities
No heat - we just wear coats in the winter
No water - you can get that for free in any public bathroom
No a/c - plenty of stores to visit during the hot hours (but never buy anything)
No car - we use public transportation for our 12 children kah
We do have natural gas and a dial up phone . takes ages for imamother to load.

ectomorph

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 7:39 pm

Re buy vs lease. If you lease you're always driving a new car. And after 3 years you paid 48% off the value. No way that's cheaper than buying a used car.

That said I understand that owning a car can be stressful for someone who struggles w budgeting. It seems more predictable and less risky.

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 7:48 pm

I work full time, as does my husband.

I have a full time babysitter in my home, because my kids get sick pretty often and are off from school pretty much every other week for some reason and I can't get off so easily. I have a 2 year old who I am waiting until next year to send to playgroup, even though in theory she could benefit from it now, because I simply can't justify the expense given that I have a full time babysitter (who mind you, gets most of my paycheck, I'm doing this to gain experience in my feild so that I can get a better paying job down the line). So basically I have full time cleaning help. I had little to no cleaning help before I started to work, even when I was in school and interning full time and had a child with many medical challenges.

My linens don't match by any strech of the imagination. I get hand-me-downs for my son from a relative that has two boys older than mine. MIL and SILs like to shop for my kids and I supplement cheaply whatever else is needed. I don't buy myself clothing too often, and wear things until they are pretty worn out. DH does as well, and shops in Walmart and waits for sales for his Shabbos stuff (we are Chassidish, so not really possible to cheap out on his Shabbos stuff). I have a measuring thing so that I can order my kids shoes online. We tend to keep our heat on pretty low. So far I have never spent more than $1k on a Sheitel (but I would like to work that into the budget one day).

HOWEVER, we do currently own 3 cars for two drivers. My DH has a hobby of collecting interesting cars. The most that we have spent on a car in the ast few years is $5k. I drive a really worn out minivan (which I don't mind, as I am not the best driver and feel better driving something that in theory I can ruin), and my husband's other cars are old (one is over 30 years old). We also just pulled together and bought a multi family house as an investment.

So yes, one can be frugal in many areas (I'm not frugal in the food department, I will admit) and splurge, or spemd smartly in other areas.

oneofakind

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 8:55 pm

I work my menu around what's on sale. I try to buy store brands I.e. Shoprite flour when there is no real difference in taste. I avoid using the dryer (I can only do this with a small family) and use hanging racks. I try to run full loads. I pay more for quality but not just for the brand name. I only use disposables when I have to. I will not compromise on medical or mental health care and will pay out of pocket or travel, which can become costly, if I have to.

amother

Bisque

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 9:20 pm

amother wrote:

Huh? How do u get a lease with that many miles? I would assume ppl who drive that much but second hand and sell often, upgrading.

We don't we just pay for about $35,000 a year and then pay at the end of the lease. It's better than destroying your own car with so many miles.

Cheiny

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:28 pm

mandr wrote:

OP I wouldn’t take half these responses seriously. I bet if you walked into the home of the imamother who has candles, you would find brightly lit fluorescent lights or LED or whatever. Lots of people here try to sound really lofty with their frugal lifestyles but I’d take everything with a grain of salt.

That said, frugal means something else to everyone. My neighbor was giving away used pacifiers and she had many takers. I was appalled. Pacifiers are not an expense that would make someone go broke.

Uch, that is gross!!!

Cheiny

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:30 pm

amother wrote:

The candles if you have kids from ages 0 to 20 is....I hope a joke. Pacifiers can be true. My sister lives in an area where people are super pauper.

You can buy a pacifier for a dollar..there’s no excuse for using someone else’s!

amother

Forestgreen

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:32 pm

amother wrote:

We don't we just pay for about $35,000 a year and then pay at the end of the lease. It's better than destroying your own car with so many miles.

Why is it better then destroying your own car? You would pay less to destroy your own car?

amother

Bisque

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:33 pm

amother wrote:

Why is it better then destroying your own car? You would pay less to destroy your own car?

It never gets destroyed. We return it rather than end up with an unusable old car that we're stuck wtih.

amother

Forestgreen

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:37 pm

Cheiny wrote:

You can buy a pacifier for a dollar..there’s no excuse for using someone else’s!

Sure. Saving the dollar for something else you can’t get for free.

What’s so special about a new pacifier if an old one isn’t damaged?

amother

Babyblue

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:40 pm

amother wrote:

We don't we just pay for about $35,000 a year and then pay at the end of the lease. It's better than destroying your own car with so many miles.

While that may work for u, there is no way that makes financial sense.

amother

Forestgreen

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:40 pm

amother wrote:

It never gets destroyed. We return it rather than end up with an unusable old car that we're stuck wtih.

You’re never stuck. You call a company, they take the car.

It’s your choice of course - but your annual car costs are higher than they need to be. I’m assuming there is a big tax incentive to this that is part of the big picture.

amother

Maroon

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 10:42 pm

amother wrote:

We don't we just pay for about $35,000 a year and then pay at the end of the lease. It's better than destroying your own car with so many miles.

You pay $35k each year? You can certainly save a ton of money by buying a car every year instead. But perhaps your decision was based on finances.

amother

Bisque

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 11:00 pm

amother wrote:

You pay $35k each year? You can certainly save a ton of money by buying a car every year instead. But perhaps your decision was based on finances.

nonononono sorry. We pay for 35,000 miles per year and then pay for the overage. No we do NOT pay $35,000 a year. The dollar sign was a typo!

amother

Navy

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 11:01 pm

amother wrote:

We don't we just pay for about $35,000 a year and then pay at the end of the lease. It's better than destroying your own car with so many miles.

Or sounds like a business deal with the lease being deductible.

amother

Forestgreen

Sun, Dec 30 2018, 11:09 pm

amother wrote:

nonononono sorry. We pay for 35,000 miles per year and then pay for the overage. No we do NOT pay $35,000 a year. The dollar sign was a typo!

So how much do you pay per year for this car payment wise?