Is frugal the new normal?

Goldiegirl

fuddle wrote: »

We don't talk about the things in our lives that aren't frugal or OS because this isn't the place. We come here to share the OS things we do.

When a group of people get to know each other, don't you find that they start sharing all areas of their life?

I thought that the Old Style Daily thread was an over the garden fence thread where people shared all sorts of things.

It's true this thread may have wandered a bit, but it's the nature of conversations.

I didn't realise that it wasn't good form talk about anything that wasn't relating to active frugalness.

Ah well, I hope some of my comments may have made a couple of people think for a few seconds.

ivyleaf

I'm not always as frugal/thrifty as I'd like to be when buying food; my health means that I can't always cook a meal from scratch, and painful hands and wrists mean I sometimes buy ready-prepared veg.

But hey, the world doesn't come to an end

We all do what feels right for us in our particular circumstances.

GoldieGirl A friend of mine always swore she'd never go on a cruise, until she came across a Special Offer on a cruise which visited somewhere she'd always longed to go (St Petersburg), and couldn't resist it.

She's now a complete convert because she said it was wonderful to be able to see so many different places without having to do anything except relax during the journeys between them, and without having to keep packing and unpacking a suitcase.

Caterina, this has been/is a really interesting thread. Thank you for starting it :T

maria3104

I totally love this thread.

I drive an 09 skoda fabia, 60 mpg, £30 car tax, my workmates all drive Audi A3, Q5 etc and fortunately they see my car choice as just me being a bit mad and eccentric. But I would cry if I had to waste all that extra money just to do the same journey. We also have farm trucks, never brand new, but always reliable and well maintained as they tow our precious livestock.

Occasionally I get verbal abuse from people for my supposed wealth, which is laughable we are farm debted up to our eyeballs, but I do not do debt for holidays, consumer goods etc. I do however put money away for my childrens pensions and also did for their educations. It was my equivalent of the Audi and when people say how stupid I am and that the children will be spoilt and never appreciate my sacrifices I have to confess that I would rather have this than an Audi and that there is no sacrifice involved. Just personal choice. For some reason not wanting a designer car is signs of insanity to some!

I love reading, pottering in the kitchen, admiring friends gardens, sadly mine is a none starter. But, I promise you, the designer car, clothes, holidays etc gives me no joy. So yes I am frugal, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, but why has the UK become so narrow in how we chose to spend our money?

This website is like a comfort blanket for me. I am not alone. There must be thousands like me choosing to live simply.

Thank you Martin. M

Islandmaid

I,ll get me coat..... (Audi owner)

suki1964

Islandmaid wrote: »

I,ll get me coat..... (Audi owner)

I left it ages ago - BMW and Mercedes owner :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

suki1964 wrote: »

I left it ages ago - BMW and Mercedes owner :rotfl:

Me too... Vauxhall owner!
Only joking, I love this thread. I wished I hadn't succumbed to consumerism and easy credit all these years... I would be considerably richer now but its never too late in this constant battle not to spend money!

thriftwizard

I'm laughing out loud - I'm just about to PX my frugal little 60mpg car for a big 25mpg van! To be fair, the van, with its unusual combination of capabilities, is needed for the business, and the little car (far too small for the job now) has cost us its own weight in gold in maintenance, averaging out at over £1000 a year - if it could go wrong, it did go wrong! So my wonderful frugal & green intentions in buying a small, fuel-efficient car & keeping it for 10 years went horribly wrong...

Also, when I bought the little car, one or two people laughed & said I'd soon find that I'd end up doing many more miles, if I didn't have to worry about fuel costs... and to an extent, that turned out to be true, though it wasn't so much me, it was the Offspring needing lifts hither & thither! And lately I've often had to do two or more trips, because I couldn't fit in everything we needed. Not so frugal - or green - after all!

Islandmaid

I may drive a nice car, it costs me £30 tax, £10 a week fuel and £135 a years insurance, but I am a stickler for cutting back, we don,t go abroad on holiday, have paid off 99% of our mortgage, and over the past year we have got married, redone 2 bathrooms and a kitchen as well as upgraded the car, all without taking on debt, I have also now gone PT at work to help out MIL and DH with his paperwork (self employed carpenter/builder).

Hubby call's me a squirrel, as I have savings all over the place for different things home improvements, Christmas, Birthdays etc - youngest is 18 in the new year, so saving for something special for him, he,s also (hopefully) starting Uni next year, so another savings pot to help him with that.

I cook from scratch - stretch food to the limit to feed us well, we stock enough free wood each year to see us through the winter with the wood burner.

I struggled for a couple of months with the reduced income but have got used to it now and spend well within my budget.

I spent 10 years as a single parent of 3 young kids, I worked shifts including weekends, Christmas etc with no family help and paid more in childcare than I earnt during holidays, but my job also paid well, gave me good time off with my kids, so although hard was worth it in the end - all 3 kids have a great work ethic and appreciate the 'worth' of stuff.

Home is my 'happy place' and I am very,very lucky x
Frugal rocks....:T

greenbee

Caterina wrote: »

I actually know someone, one of us OSers who, not having managed to obtain a prompt dental appointment after having a tooth problem, reconstructed one of their front teeth with a putty kit you can apparently buy at the chemists. Their dentist, eventually, was really impressed by the excellent handiwork.

As you can see, OSers are handy in the most unexpected of ways!

That might have been me ... if not there is more than one of us! I can thoroughly recommend tooth repair kits as part of a first aid kit.

However, I'm now going to have to have an implant, so have been saving :cool:

Islandmaid wrote: »

I,ll get me coat..... (Audi owner)

I did have an A3, which lasted me until it was 14 years old and then started doing what Thriftwizard's car did... so I've downshifted 2 brands to a Seat Leon.

Caterina

Thank you Ivyleaf, how are you? Long time no see, maybe I need to arrange a new London OS meet on my return from holidays. Will you be up for it? We had such good times in the old meetups!

I am happy that people are enjoying this thread, I am too, and find it always so interesting how we all share our different quirks, how each of us has something that they consider a treat, but also balance the treats with all sorts of OS behaviours in other areas of life. Loving the diversity of experiences!

Greenbee it wasn't you, there is at least another one! :-)

I never had a car until I met DH, who at the time drove a gorgeous white MGB GT. On becoming pregnant with the twins and not fitting into the MG anymore (literally!) we decided for a family car and got a brand new Fiat Tipo. Not a good choice, over the 12 years that we had it, it cost us a fortune in repairs, principally ALL the gaskets and several times the clutch. Apparently a common Fiat problem in both cases.

When the twins turned 12, the car broke to a point that it was not worth repairing and we decided to put our money where our mouth was (with all that talk of being "green") and go carless.

We stayed carless for 11 years, then DH's Aunt up North became very ill and he had to travel back and forth, at the same time I saw a lovely little Clio just round the corner from us, for sale. We bought it so that DH could visit his dear Aunt and help the family with her care. We thought we could always sell the car at a later stage. After a few months sadly his Aunt passed away, but DH decided that we should keep the car and use it in a frugal way. It only costs £30 tax per year and we use it sparingly, but it is a lovely car, nippy, fuel efficient, easy to drive and park as it is so small. We never exceed 5000 miles per year and that's because we take a few driving holidays, Wales, Yorkshire etc, otherwise we would have an even lower mileage. And it is handy for my job, picking up the boys from school, so it is a source of earning, too. It probably more than pays for itself.

So, having a car can be a frugal choice too, if used mindfully and not in excess. If Audi is your car of choice, or BMW, or whatever. Why not? I would LOOOOOVE to have a proper Land Rover like one of my best OS friends (you know who you are!) who is one of the best moneysaving, thrifty and frugal persons I have ever known. The two (nice car and OS lifestyle) are not mutually exclusive!

Good night.