I think frugality is not just a good idea, I think it is a necessity. And associated with it is the necessary setting of priorities.
For example, I know that after paying bills I will have about $30 at the most left to live on every two weeks. The choices I make determine how the next two weeks will go. If the leftover amount is under $10, and recently it was $3, I am not able to put gas in the car and I stay home and find creative things to do with what I have on hand, just to feel like I am being productive. If there is extra money, which is rare, but it happens, I generally stock up on something that I can't live without later on down the line if there is no money at all. Food, water, cleaning products, health items.
I don't have an entertainment budget. I seldom drive the 15 mile round trip to my daughter's house, nor the 7 miles round trip to my parents.
If there is a "need", and I can't afford it, I just have to do without it. I haven't bought a new bra, for instance, in 13 years. I haven't had new glasses since 1996. I did have to get some WalMart/thrift store clothes this year because I have lost weight, but nothing over $10. In fact, most things under $5.
I am embarrassed to say how long it has been since I replaced underwear, even though it's enormous on me. I just don't spend money I don't have. Got caught in the credit trap before and had 13 credit cards that just about did me in. Never again.
My perception of this forum is that there are a few out there who live the same way: On the edge of poverty. My projected income for 2010 is just under $15,000.
I went to my niece's house last night for the 4th. She is a SAHM with four kids, and her husband supports them while going to school to improve himself. He will graduate very soon and has a better job lined up already.
In the meantime, they get food stamps and Medi-Cal (health care) and a number of other things that low income family qualify for. They filed for bankruptcy some years ago, and currently they again have a number of credit cards which are maxed out, and they are three years behind on their property taxes, she told me last night.
She made a great meal for all 19 of us (I took fresh corn from the garden, which was delicious!), and we had almost an hour's worth of uninterrupted fireworks, and not the cheap kind. I am guessing $200 worth. Some of them were $10 each.
She took me aside to tell me how tough a spot they are in financially, have $2 in the bank, etc., and she doesn't know how they are going to make it. As she gestures, I note that she has freshly manicured acrylic fingernails. In the living room, I hear talk of how they traded in all their other game systems and replaced them with the updated Wii, becauase it was a cool color.
This frustrates me. And you know what? That's all I am going to say. The whole situation put me in a foul mood, and I wanted to vent about it and then move on.... Hope I can pull that one off!!!
For example, I know that after paying bills I will have about $30 at the most left to live on every two weeks. The choices I make determine how the next two weeks will go. If the leftover amount is under $10, and recently it was $3, I am not able to put gas in the car and I stay home and find creative things to do with what I have on hand, just to feel like I am being productive. If there is extra money, which is rare, but it happens, I generally stock up on something that I can't live without later on down the line if there is no money at all. Food, water, cleaning products, health items.
I don't have an entertainment budget. I seldom drive the 15 mile round trip to my daughter's house, nor the 7 miles round trip to my parents.
If there is a "need", and I can't afford it, I just have to do without it. I haven't bought a new bra, for instance, in 13 years. I haven't had new glasses since 1996. I did have to get some WalMart/thrift store clothes this year because I have lost weight, but nothing over $10. In fact, most things under $5.
I am embarrassed to say how long it has been since I replaced underwear, even though it's enormous on me. I just don't spend money I don't have. Got caught in the credit trap before and had 13 credit cards that just about did me in. Never again.
My perception of this forum is that there are a few out there who live the same way: On the edge of poverty. My projected income for 2010 is just under $15,000.
I went to my niece's house last night for the 4th. She is a SAHM with four kids, and her husband supports them while going to school to improve himself. He will graduate very soon and has a better job lined up already.
In the meantime, they get food stamps and Medi-Cal (health care) and a number of other things that low income family qualify for. They filed for bankruptcy some years ago, and currently they again have a number of credit cards which are maxed out, and they are three years behind on their property taxes, she told me last night.
She made a great meal for all 19 of us (I took fresh corn from the garden, which was delicious!), and we had almost an hour's worth of uninterrupted fireworks, and not the cheap kind. I am guessing $200 worth. Some of them were $10 each.
She took me aside to tell me how tough a spot they are in financially, have $2 in the bank, etc., and she doesn't know how they are going to make it. As she gestures, I note that she has freshly manicured acrylic fingernails. In the living room, I hear talk of how they traded in all their other game systems and replaced them with the updated Wii, becauase it was a cool color.
This frustrates me. And you know what? That's all I am going to say. The whole situation put me in a foul mood, and I wanted to vent about it and then move on.... Hope I can pull that one off!!!
But you know what? We still love each other very much, and we BOTH had a good laugh at what we must look like to the other folks. 
