reasons

@oscar6 (1938)
United States
September 15, 2010 12:45pm CST
what are the reasons that you are frugal? In what ways are you frugal?
5 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Sep 10
I am frugal basically because I want to control my money instead of it controlling me, like I see it doing so many others. I want to not have to worry about not having enough to pay the bills and put food on the table AND be able to buy the other things I need. I want to have enough saved for retirement so I don't have to work all my life like some older people I see now. Besides that I like the feeling of beating the system. I am frugal in most common ways. I cook from scratch, watch for sales, don't run the AC or heater until/unless it's necessary, don't waste water or electricity or gas or food or anything else.
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
15 Sep 10
i am frugal because we just dont have a lot of money around and i have to stretch what little we have. ways that i am frugal are shopping at thrift stores, visiting the library and eating as cheaply as i can.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
21 Nov 12
I'm that way. It all started just trying to make ends meet..stretch the dollars as far as I could to get what was needed etc. I wasn't being "frugal"...I just didn't have the money to buy just what I wanted.. I had to only buy what I could afford in my budget. It is hard work to make ends meet...especially if you have kids! But what really irks me is in the recent 5 years...with the recession and unemployment and all...people write articles and on tv shows etc...bragging about ways to "save money" during the recession or unemployment..like is is a great fun thing to do! I have been living that way all my life...it wasn't an option..it was mandatory! They act like reusing plastic ziploc baggies is such a novel and cool thing to save money! I was doing that long time ago...just cause I had to or else I didn't have any! Things like that. So "frugal" is kind of touchy with me. People act like it is such a glorified talent to be that way...when the rest of us had no choice but to be that way!
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
15 Sep 10
I am frugal because I do not want to be like the people I work with. They are constantly talking about how "broke" they are. They talk about not having food in the house and payday is still a couple of days away. But, just a few days earlier, they were eating out at restaurants and getting take out delivered to work. They have to take things to the pawn shop to get money to buy their kids school supplies; but, in the last month they have taken their family on trips to expensive places. They have no money; but, they just had to buy a designer purse/shoes/etc and they managed to find money for that. They can't afford to get their vehicle fixed so it will run; but, they rent a vehicle and take week long trips to Las Vegas and Carribean cruises. So, I am frugal. We only eat out in restaurants on special occasion and we take our food with us to work. We rarely take trips and usually limit them to day trips in our area. We actually save money. If we get an unexpected windfall, we save half of it and enjoy the rest. When entering debit or check purchases in our bank account, we always round up to the next dollar - we have saved almost $300 in our checking account this way over the last couple of years (so, no bounced checks and it is there for an emergency if needed). We do not buy cars that we cannot pay cash for. My last car was bought almost 4 years ago for $450 - Maintenance and Insurance average about $1000 per year and there are no monthly car payments! The car my husband is driving was purchased 8 years ago for $1600 and the cost of maintaining it and insuring it is even less per year.
• United States
16 Sep 10
I cant remember when I wasn't frugal. I have always been a thrift store/yard sale junkie; always shopped the discount stores and sales, but both of my parents were born in the Depression and I guess it rubbed off on me! Now I'm especially thrifty because not only do I work less but I'm paid less too.
@tkonlinevn (6105)
• Vietnam
16 Sep 10
I want to be frugal to invest in the future. Besides, I also want to feel secure about finance in the worst situation such as sick.