WHY are you old style?......

valk_scot

Bit of both. We're on a reasonable household income but by no stretch of the imagination will it cover everything we want to buy or do without making choices and economising in some areas. We want the kids to have computers, school trips, sports coaching and university education for example, we're not the least bit interested in designer labels, new gadgets or eating out every week.

But also even if our income tripled overnight I'd still be frugal in many areas, I don't belive in consumerism taken to excess and wasting resources.

lillibet_dripping

I didn't need to think too long about the answer to this one. After the ex-DH left me with two small children to bring up I was still living the 'married lifestyle' on a single parent income. Gradually the savings ran out (actually, most of them went into the solicitors' coffers!) and day-to-day expenses were put on the credit card. I was on that downward spiral...
Cue the lightbulb moment, contact Payplan, sort out debt repayment plan, enforced frugality.
HOWEVER, although it was by necessity in the beginning, as I threw off the shackles of consumerism, I learned to love being frugal by choice.
I have also played the 'what if I won the lottery' game and decided that after paying off family mortgages and clearing all debts, I would give the rest away. I have a few charities very close to my heart who need all the help they can get. I feel physically sick at the thought of me being able to go out and buy designer handbags/shoes/luxury holidays while they are struggling to help people less fortunate than my family.
Through living a simple, frugal life I have finally found the 'inner peace' that I have spent many years searching for and I wouldn't have it any other way now!

nuttyp

We are frugal through choice and need. When the girls were younger, and the last recession where we lost our house - thats when it started. I told them we were very clever to be able to read the labels on the value items! We didnt need pictures on them.

Have to say a very 'posh' lady said what a nice way of saying it to them. We live in the counryside so i womble veg that has fallen off the tractors and trailers. Many a cauli, onion potatoe to be found. When the fields have had the pea viners in, the corners are left so we sneek in later and get a few fresh peas yum!!

I buy clothes from ebay, car boots and charity shops, we get furniture from the secondhand shop, ebay or car boots.

We saved very hard for 3 years and took our 3 to disney last month - and we even used vouchers there - i made money on ebay for spending money.

I was brought up in a very poor household, but even though we both work we choose the frugal life, at least we have a very happy house. Lots of homemade touches - like cushion covers from woolen jumper!! easy to change for a cheap new look.

oldtractor

necessity.

WeegieWumman

Frugal by necessity (unfortunately!)

tina_malteser

at 1st i did it by choice,but now im doing it through neccesity and im happy doing it as well..i eat well, im not wasteful, i have a roof over my head, heating, i have an old style FAT tv and i bought that 2nd hand £20 two yrs ago. My curtains are £6 charity find, ive an old scalf at the door to keep any draughts out.im in the process of shabby chic(ing) some old pine furniture i have to give it a new lease of life...i love being frugel :T

tina_malteser

Pink. wrote: »

I'm frugal by choice, it's the way I was brought up, and I hate waste of any kind. We have a couple of older threads that should interest you:

you have a £5 million lottery win, now how Old Style are you?

WHY are you old style?......

I'll add this thread to one of those links later.

Pink

I live very near to chris and colin in Largs who won the £161 euro millions..They just seem to be giving it away to needy ppl so i read in local paper..:T:A:beer:

sonastin

I can't afford to live the lifestyle I'd like, so in some ways I'm frugal by necessity. But there are areas of my life where compromise & sacrifice is easier/preferable. So I choose to be more frugal in those areas so that I can be more of a spendthrift on other aspects.

Being frugal is a necessity, the extent of the frugality is a choice...

LameWolf

A bit of both, really. I dislike parting with money unnecessarily (OK, I'm just tight):D so from that point of view, it's choice; but if I weren't naturally careful with money, it would become a necessity.

Did that make sense? I have horrible brainfog today, and know what I'm trying to say, but not too good in the putting-the-words-together-and-making-sense dept.:rotfl:

jools27_2

These days by choice. When DS and DD were wee, we couldn't afford holidays, took all our wages to cover the bills, pay the mortgage, and feed us, then OH lost his job and we struggled, ended up with some debts which were hard to pay off. Years later, following promotion at work, a nice surprise inheritance last year, and the kids now being 22 and 17, we have enough money coming in to have a nice holiday, a decent car, and can have more choice in what we buy and wether to buy cos we want it, rather than always saving cos we need it. Still grudge paying full price for anything if the shop down the road has it cheaper, and the favourite meals are often the cheaper cuts of meat etc, the great thing now is that we CAN choose, although having watched my brother going down the IVA route after a marriage break up and remembering the times we had to scrimp and rummage everywhere to buy the kids school shoes and warm jackets I think I will always be ready to hunt a bargain!