Parents lived thru depression. Brought us up to live below our means. Have followed their advice. No debt. Paid mtge off 15 years. Buy cars cash. First job 1.60 or 1.65 hr. Cashier part time in college. Got 5 cent raise when min went up. Took home 20 wk. When cashed ck put $5 in bank. No atms.
I'll bet that was something!
All I heard about when I was young was the depression. What I learned from their experience is to have a skill.
In the early 2000’s my brother and I lost our jobs within weeks of each other. I had a skill as a sports photographer. I turned it into a great 14 year gig. He didn’t have a skill. He was out of work for a year and he is still recovering.
I was raised in a small rural community where everyone older had lived through the depression. Just having basic amenities like electricity, your own well, or a telephone line were luxuries and greatly appreciated and never taken for granted. Folks had to save up for years to finally afford having power brought in or a well drilled because things like this had to be paid for up front and banks would seldom loan for these things. Viewing finances and budgeting from this perspective of appreciation for what you do have rather than what you do not have can serve one very well.
There is a difference between “wants” and “needs”. And if you can work on the “cash up front or you don’t really need it” principle it is quite easy to live comfortable within your means. Question is what is your perspective of “comfortable”?, Having a bigger house, and bigger lawn, or a bigger lawnmower than all your neighbors? Or having the time to go fishing while all your neighbors work their butts off trying to maintain these competitive status symbols?
Myself... I am going fishing and appreciate not having to beat myself up trying to be more “status comfortable” than my silly neighbors. lol
There is a lot to be said for that.
“Parents lived thru depression. Brought us up to live below our means. Have followed their advice. No debt. Paid mtge off 15 years. Buy cars cash. First job 1.60 or 1.65 hr. Cashier part time in college. Got 5 cent raise when min went up. Took home 20 wk. When cashed ck put $5 in bank. No atms.”
exactly my circumstance. I’ll add:
1. Buy really good used vehicles (like manufacturer pre-certified, off-lease vehicles) and drive them until the wheels fall off. Don’t buy the highest end lines as the repair costs are through the roof on labor and parts, particularly parts. Never buy a European car. Generally, Japanese autos and some American trucks are the best.
2. Develop repair skills and fix or repair instead of replace. That saves on the costs of new products or paying for outside repair, AND you end up with a VERY nice set of tools.
3. Do your research on EVERYTHING you buy! Both for quality and price. The Internet provides amazing resources for such research.
4. Buy high quality appliances, but never buy the highest end ones because they have too many very costly circuit boards and they don’t work any better than the next lowest line.
5. Lots of little things: cluster your errands (saves time, energy and vehicle wear); buy paper products, cleaning products and personal hygiene products and the like in bulk; pre-cool foods before freezing or refrigerating (this is easy in winter; particularly where snow is available, but cold water from the tap does a fine job by itself); don’t run the water continuously when brushing your teeth, if the climate allows; cool your house with an evaporative cooler instead of air-conditioning; buy high quality used furniture instead of new throw-away junk; haggle whenever possible and even some times when it seems it might not be possible: the only downside is someone says “no”, turn the damn lights off when you leave a room: saves on electricity and light bulb costs; the quality of LED bulbs has finally made LED bulbs worth the cost AND the output spectrums have vastly improved: there are plenty of online options for buying 3000 and 3500 Kelvin bulbs which match incandescent spectrums.
6. Limit eating out, except for special occasions. If you have time, buy high quality ingredients and cook wholesome, healthy, and delicious meals yourself. Cook very large quantities and freeze meal-sized portions to save on cooking time, setup time, and cleanup time.
7. For you youngsters in the corporate world: every time you get a raise, put the new money in your 401K/403B plan ... you won’t miss the raise money because you never had it in the first place...
8. Always live in a house less than you can afford.
9. NEVER keep a credit card balance: pay your credit card(s) off every month.
10. Don’t skimp on routine vehicle maintenance.
I’ve been frugal my whole life, but not cheap. I buy good things and I own good things. I drive good cars. I pretty much buy what i want, when i want. I eat well. I’m generous with charities (Salvation Army) during times of disaster and also make judicious donations to political campaigns ...