What caused me to be frugal? I'm not sure, I don't think it was my parents. They instilled do not carry credit card debt and live within your means. But that could not be defined as frugal because they had very high means.
So I'm not entirely sure where my frugalness comes from. I was frugal even before I meet DH and he certainly did not help my frugal gene. Instead he encouraged it by coming from a cheap family.
My grandmother is a very frugal lady so having been raised by her it's perhaps where I learned my frugality. She would reuse everything, never wasting a dime. But perhaps my frugalness is a hybrid of my parents spending habits with my grandmother's frugalness.
I might also add for DH and I buying a house so young really disciplined us into saving. Not in a typical manner of money in the bank, but of living with less. We suddenly had to change our thoughts and lifestyle to accomodate being homeowners so young. Our attitudes were adjusted immediately. Typically people learn how hard it is to own a home with unexpected expenses. Learning in our early 20s gave us a huge jump on life. We just rolled with living with less.
So was our frugality a learned trait? Or one born out of necessity? I'm not sure but I hope I can maintain our frugalness for a long time. But it feels to be getting more difficult in someways and easier in others.
How did you become frugal?
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2 comments:
Definitely by necessity.. I woke up one day, saw our debt, had a mini freakout session, and decided I wanted a house before I was 30, so we re-aligned our goals with one another about money and our futures together, and that's where we stand now...
Some friction of course - Husband is a bit spendthrift at times, wanting to live beyond his means and "enjoy" the money he thinks we should have.. but I've learned to just wave the negative net worth at him and spout off our debt numbers and he sighs with exasperation and defeat.
While my father was pretty frugal, my mother would spend like crazy. Growing up, I was much more like my mother. However, dealing with my own finances, I've started to become more and more frugal. My sisters tease me about my coupon usage...I wish I could be a little more frugal, but I'm a work in progress!
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