Am I the biggest fool for being frugal?

Thrillho

Who says there must be a fancy funeral? In this situation you could a) be heartless and let the council deal with it or b) pay as little as possible for the uncle to be cremated in a cardboard coffin without any ceremony or fuss.

If all the spendthrift cousins object to this they can fork out for a fancy coffin and horse drawn carriages.

NICHOLAS_2

Living off yellow sticker food and buying primark clothes isn't frugal, it's about as tight with money as you can get!

I get the gist though, i have money in the bank, and big wads in my wallet, i'm not tight, i wear only armani jeans, but family members realise you have money and when they ask you for some or a loan, you can't help but think that they waste money and when they want to do something that requires money they rather ask someone else than save for it themselves.

purpleshoes_2

dandy-candy wrote: »

I have wondered about that as they are all about 10/15 years off retirement age with mortgages, debts etc. but they will have lovely memories of fancy meals, holidays etc; which none of my lot have

Where would you get the money to have fancy meals and holidays?

purpleshoes_2

Well I must be tight then, because I buy YS food as do a lot of people on these boards and I buy second hand clothes as well.

That's because I dont earn a fortune and because if I can kit myself out for £50 for a years worth of clothes like I did last year, well to be that's better than spending £300 quid plus I don't have to buy new and getting myself into debt in the bargain to keep up with other people.

You cut your coat according to your cloth if you are sensible. Look at the thread on here where people have decided they aren't spending money unnecessarily anymore. Some people have paid of 4 figure sums in credit card debts since the thread started just before Christmas.

suki1964

NICHOLAS wrote: »

Living off yellow sticker food and buying primark clothes isn't frugal, it's about as tight with money as you can get!

I get the gist though, i have money in the bank, and big wads in my wallet, i'm not tight, i wear only armani jeans, but family members realise you have money and when they ask you for some or a loan, you can't help but think that they waste money and when they want to do something that requires money they rather ask someone else than save for it themselves.

Hey ho, my hubby only wears RL, I wear F&F Still buy yellow stickered food though. Indeed it's the first stop of in the supermarket




Not everyone who doesn't buy designer is tight. It's called managing your money to allow you to buy what it is you wish to buy, without being up to your neck in debt

NICHOLAS_2

suki1964 wrote: »

Hey ho, my hubby only wears RL, I wear F&F Still buy yellow stickered food though. Indeed it's the first stop of in the supermarket




Not everyone who doesn't buy designer is tight. It's called managing your money to allow you to buy what it is you wish to buy, without being up to your neck in debt

The op is tight though, they've got money to buy out their FILs house but wear primark and eat dodgy food?

Some people think they can take money to the grave with them.

I don't have debt, i'm not that materialistic. Other than nice clothes and nice food and maybe a bit of gambling i don't spend much But i am not tight. If someone asks me for a quid i give it them, people like the op would write it down in a book and it would be the first topic of conversation when they next see them 'can i have my pound back please'

Buying cheap stuff is a false economy anyway

suki1964

NICHOLAS wrote: »

The op is tight though, they've got money to buy out their FILs house but wear primark and eat dodgy food?

Some people think they can take money to the grave with them.

I don't have debt, i'm not that materialistic. Other than nice clothes and nice food and maybe a bit of gambling i don't spend much But i am not tight. If someone asks me for a quid i give it them, people like the op would write it down in a book and it would be the first topic of conversation when they next see them 'can i have my pound back please'

Buying cheap stuff is a false economy anyway

Says the boy who is doing their best not to pay the water company for the water they use.......


You know nothing about the the op other then which they choose to share on these forums. Same as we know nothing about you then what you have shared

Nothing to say the op are tight, loads to say you would like to screw over a multinational

purpleshoes_2

NICHOLAS wrote: »

The op is tight though, they've got money to buy out their FILs house but wear primark and eat dodgy food?

Some people think they can take money to the grave with them.

I don't have debt, i'm not that materialistic. Other than nice clothes and nice food and maybe a bit of gambling i don't spend much But i am not tight. If someone asks me for a quid i give it them, people like the op would write it down in a book and it would be the first topic of conversation when they next see them 'can i have my pound back please'

Buying cheap stuff is a false economy anyway

YS food isnt dodgy, plenty of it can be frozen. The supermarkets need to sell of stock thats unsold at the end of the day, all supermarkets do it, theres nothing dodgy about it. If something was clearly off I wouldn't buy it, but Ive never had a problem with any YS food Ive bought.

Just because someone is frugal doesn't mean they are tight, plenty people who dont have much give to others, even if its a small sum. Ive always tried to give to people who are in more need than myself. Loads of people shop in charity shops. I dont buy in primark and the like because I dont want to pay a fiver for something that was probably made in sweatshop conditions, Id rather buy second hand. But if people want to save pennies here and there by buying cheap clothes and YS food, entirely up to them.

As for the OP, if they are regretting their choices, all I can say is, you dont need money to make memories, people can have meals out without them having to cost a fortune, holidays, same.

purpleshoes_2

dandy-candy wrote: »

Sorry but this will be a rant...

I've never liked to have credit so DH and I have always lived frugally so we could put a bit by each week and save.
We have three kids, the eldest is 22, and they have had 4 cheap one week holidays abroad in their life.
I've never own a new car, my current one is 7 years old and covered in debts and scrapes.
My clothes are all Primark or charity shops.
The food in our fridge is all yellow sticker.
For our honeymoon we did 3 nights in a best western in Suffolk.

I am very proud because living like this has meant my DH could buy his sisters share of FIL house mortgage free. We used all our savings and my inheritance from when my mum died to do this, and we have a small amount left to re wire and plumb the house as this hasn't been done for 60 years.

DH uncle has just died and although he has no kids there are lots of cousins.
These cousins holiday abroad every year in expensive places like America, which my kids have never seen. They have nice new cars like Audis that they replace every 3 years. One just gave her daughter a fancy birthday party at a casino in London. Last year she married and took all her family on the honeymoon cruise in the med. And now suddenly they are saying they don't have money for uncles funeral. What is worse is DH sister turned around and said that she and DH will foot the bill - without even asking us!

Are we complete fools for not just blowing our money on having nice things? DS2 is 18 in three weeks time and is having a BBQ in the back garden as I can't spare the money for anything fancy. It won't be anything to remember all his life. I don't know if I'm living life all wrong here. What do you think?

You are giving mixed messages out saying you are proud of the way you have lived and then wondering if you have made the wrong choices.

I said elsewhere in the thread that you don't need a fortune to make good memories, you can have a cheap holiday, all inclusive, you can shop around for offers if you want to go for a meal.

Its finding a balance between being frugal and letting go a bit when you do have something to spare.

If you don't have the money to spare how can you blow it unless you do so on credit?

savingfortomorrow

its difficult as looking over fence or through a window in another person's life you only see the advantages.
Years of excessive consumption beyond their ability to shoulder can lead to stress, it can taint the memory of the meal.

it's hard not to compare to others, question our decisions and wonder.
sometimes the best memories are inexpensive.