Frugality

[otlski]

I'm 76 raised by parents that went thru the great depression . . . that is were frugality comes from around here.

My Dad is 80, my Mom is 77. Both were raised in immigrant families during the great depression as well. I was fortunate to know both sets of grandparents growing up and saw their depression era sensibilities passed on to my parents. Being raised by them, I got a lot of that trait as well. It was further reinforced in the mid 70s when my father was starting his own business. Times were lean. Every year our gardens got bigger to supply more and more of our food. We learned to can. One Christmas my parents sat us down to explain that there would be no gifts that year; we understood. <The business did very well in the years afterwards>.

My wife had almost the same experience except her family never lacked for money; but still were frugal because of the depression. I am fortunate to make good money, so money has never been a big concern, but my two children were raised in a similar vein. They thought that they were lacking all the latest clothes, sneakers, (later) cell phones, fast internet, etc. but both now are on their own with college degrees and no loan debt, good jobs, houses/apartments, reliable cars, and have carved out decent lives.

 

[Molalla1]

My Dad is 80, my Mom is 77. Both were raised in immigrant families during the great depression as well. I was fortunate to know both sets of grandparents growing up and saw their depression era sensibilities passed on to my parents. Being raised by them, I got a lot of that trait as well. It was further reinforced in the mid 70s when my father was starting his own business. Times were lean. Every year our gardens got bigger to supply more and more of our food. We learned to can. One Christmas my parents sat us down to explain that there would be no gifts that year; we understood. <The business did very well in the years afterwards>.

My wife had almost the same experience except her family never lacked for money; but still were frugal because of the depression. I am fortunate to make good money, so money has never been a big concern, but my two children were raised in a similar vein. They thought that they were lacking all the latest clothes, sneakers, (later) cell phones, fast internet, etc. but both now are on their own with college degrees and no loan debt, good jobs, houses/apartments, reliable cars, and have carved out decent lives.

I'm liking this . . . . . :drink:

 

[newbury]

My parents were just at the end of "Depression babies". Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Had a lot of doing without. But was also ingrained that if I was going to get something make sure it was going to last.

There was a time when doing a project I would always get 3 pieces if I need one, just in case. Three handfuls of bolts if I need a couple bolts. I always kept whatever I bought and never took stuff back unless it was a very unique expensive item. I just stored it in a bin.

The last few years I find myself buying what I know I need plus one extra. When the job is done I will take the extra part back (when in the neighborhood) even if it is 50 cents worth. I don't accumulate nowhere as much stuff when I was actually doing quite a bit of work in the garage. Cheap or frugal, I don't know.

My modus operandi exactly.
Need a bolt that I might need a few more of? Buy a pound. Special fastener? Buy several.

We have a house in Virginia we have been trying to move out from since 2011 when we bought a house in Mississippi. The house in Virginia has one shed 10x15, one shed 12x6 and had my "workshop" in the basement, which took up about 10x15. The house in Mississippi has about 6,000 sq feet of shops:

Which are almost full!
The biggest problem is "filing" everything so I can find it AND my son's can find it when I pass away.

But for almost any common plumbing, auto, electrical job I've got parts. Screws in all sizes, all heads, all materials Several HF 30 bin wall units of nuts and bolts and washers.

Which brings up the second biggest problem - since we are splitting our time between Va. and Ms. it's tricky to have the right parts in the right place.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Anyone under 80 did not live in the great depression (1928-1939).

We reused wood and nails. I save lumber scraps.

Dad only bought one new vehicle in his life, was the worse one he ever had. I buy new vehicles, the 2 used ones i bought were the worse i ever had.

Dad never made more than 10k in a year, yet has more money in the bank than i do...

He saves everything. When plastic milk jugs first came out, he saved hundreds of them... I think he throws them away now.

Lol, nice thread.

 

[jimjumper]

My grandfather was as frugal as they come. Later in life he added a back porch to the house that he had built years before. A little hard to see but you'll notice that the screening is all old screen doors that he had picked up at local dumps. He never threw anything away!
'

 

[bunyip]

About a year ago we decided we wanted wall units for the lounge and hallway, there are a couple of manufacturers who still handmake furniture (to a point, machine made but no chipboard or staples, all dovetailed drawers etc), the ones we liked had been in production for about 30 years but were going to cost about $25,000.00.
Went through Gumtree and found some nearby, was a couple who were downsizing and simply couldn't get rid of these identical units that were 25 years old and in immaculate condition, they wanted $100 each or $500 the lot (7 units), they were exactly what we had looked at new and we took the lot for the $500, cost me $700 to get them home but figured I was well in front.
People just want new and won't buy stuff like this even though it looks like it just came off the showroom floor, the only thing we had to do was replace a leveller on one unit and the manufacturer gave it to us and sent it in the mail.
Frugal, lucky and about $24k in front, the husband was a Vietnam vet so we got on and he was happy to see it wasn't going to be wrecked or sold on although he was Army and bagged me for being Air Force (as we do:laughing

 

[tjkubota93]

I've been known to squeeze a dime hard enough to get three nickels out of it.

On the gas thing, I've done the same. It can be about principal. There are some places I will NOT buy from, no matter their price. Wally World is one. I drive past them all the time to go to stores miles further on. I don't care if Wally is 90% less.

I've never bought a new car and never will. I've never bought a new house and never will. This tractor is the first new big ticket item I've ever bought.



I believe if you do your research, that 'quality' goods are more about perception of brand name recognition than a real difference in product quality. I found that orange and green paint added a lot to the price without really adding much else. Craftsman tools of the 1960s, 70s and into the 80s may have been better quality than other brands, but what about Craftsman tools of the 2020s?

I think wal Mark's uses as much American oil as they can before buying from haji

 

[USAFpj]

After reading some of you guys' response on being frugal, I may have to re-evaluate what I consider that to mean- some of you are just plain crazy:laughing:

Do you have relatives who, when given a gift, want to know how much you spent? Just to see if it was a bargain or not?

I think nothing more than of buying Dad a certain rifle- currently goes for about $1200 +/-. However, he may not say it, but because he knows how expensive that rifle goes for, he will always think to himself that he could have gotten 3 or 4 different rifles for the same amount. I'm telling you- it's a psychological ailment!

 

[bunyip]

Bought wife a new car last June, gave the 'old' one (4 year old Hyundai i20 with 130,000km on the clock) to youngest daughter, wife said she preferred the older car to the new one so I said we will give daughter the new one.
Very quick rethink on that one and still has the new one.

 

[duffer]

there is not an item on this green earth that he doesn't think is "too expensive".

Some of us "old people" (I'm a little older than your Dad) have good minds, even though our bodies may not perform like we're 30 anymore. We remember what the cost of gas was when we were young. I worked at a truck stop in high school and gas was 19.9 cents and diesel was 13 cents. And the price didn't change for 5 years. Your Dad remembers what taxes, and bread, and all the other stuff used to be. Doesn't mean he's cheap, just means he has a good memory.

To me, Frugal is living below your means. That's why I bet your Dad doesn't have any debt...at all. I'll bet you coffee & donuts you have some debt. Frugal may be doing without what you want for a while. Cheap is doing without what you NEED. (most of us don't need most of the stuff we have) But for those of us who have stuff we want, and no debt...we also have a lot of pride.

Happy Memorial Day to all, and especially all of you that have served this great Nation!