Replies

How did you do this?

I'm kind of stingy - and my wife was moderately careful to easy going with her money and is now thrift.

We still have a large mortgage debt on two houses, but this is halved since 2010 and we plan on halving it again next year (selling off one place and pre-paying again on a second).

Our way was to:

Think small -- the "free-spending" budget we have is: total income - mortgage payments - investments - 40% kept for savings and charity
No credit card debt
No car (it's possible for me in a city with good public transportation -- that's not for everyone)
Cook at home and take the food -- and I'm healthier for this
Cut meat to 2 to 3 days a week - again, slightly lower cost, but healthier
Fast food, soft drinks, takeaway coffee eliminated - the first two are empty calories and all three are not needed
Alcohol minimized - only wine for guests
eating out minimized
You get some real gems for clothes at the used clothes store.
Eliminate cable and TV - we use the net, but no netflicks. We have DVDs that we watch when we want to. But we can spend the days, evenings and nights to do other things besides sitting in front of a screen

We don't scrimp on health or education or giving our child experiences (and surprisingly the best ones are free!)

What do you do? I'd like to learn new ways

“What do you do? I’d like to learn new ways “

Grow our own food... It’s amazing when you are cleaning up after a meal and realize that everything either came from a jar on the basement shelves or off the farm.

I grew up without TV... what a blessing as I love to read. I did the same thing for my children as they were growing up. NO TV!!!

If I could only figure out a way to get rid of the darn high real estate taxes!!!!

As to frugality... Off the grid is mainly utilities...

No public water with monthly bills

No public sewage with monthly bills

No home phone with monthly bills.

No TV cable with monthly bills.

I could do without electric if necessary...

I view frugality merely a method of allocating resources... I love to travel, often internationally... Living frugally allows me to do what I want.