Obligatory I live in the US.
I was listening to The Millionaire Nextdoor for probably the fifth time now.
It was written in 1996 and in the beginning they mention how frugal all the millionaires are that they interviewed.
30 years later from release I want to know what you think it means to be frugal when compared to today. What would you say is different in our spending habits and ways we commerce that might make it harder to save vs then.
Something that I keep getting stuck in with my finances are needs vs wants vs now.
It is easy for me to cut out trips and restaurants. When it comes to grocery shopping I don't cut coupons. I am looking to purchase that item now because I want to eat it. Things like vegetables, fruits, meats. I've generally cut out all the novelty.
I own my car, never lease and my biggest expense monthly is my mortgage.
When it comes to home I do my own repairs, mainly because I like to, not because I'm thinking of saving money. With home repair though you need the right tools and some specialty tools that speed up the work. In my mind I will balance the purchase cost vs hiring a handyman or skills trade because their hourly rates, while fair, are more than I prefer to pay considering I can do the work also. It just costs my time.
I generally don't do anything other than stay at home.
Yet, to jump in the bandwagon and sound like a broken record, I feel like I'm not able to save more. I think I've cut all my expenses and aside from strict budgeting I'm always surprised when I look through my credit card statements, my easiest form of payment for most purchases (most places around me won't take cash), and see how much I owe. More scary, when I go down line by line I'm always thinking, "That's right, I needed that to do this thing", "Oh yeah I forgot that yearly payment was due (insurance, annual fee for something I actually use, etc)".
There is hard core frugal and then there is spend all your money and never budget. I think most people want to fall in between.
If you've read The Millionaire Next Door and compared it to today, what would you say is different in our spending habits compared to then.
What does it mean to be frugal today compared to 1996
byu/unscodst_1 inFrugal
Posted by unscodst_1
2 Comments
Our money seemed to go further. We didn’t have WiFi bills, computers or smartphones which is a big expense when added up. Groceries cost less but I made $16 an hour. Now we live like you and hold on for better times. PS I am old enough to know times change.
Well back then things like internet and cell phone line items were not a necessity. I suppose some people can still manage without by using the
Library and such, but I don’t think that is realistic for most people. I actually just decided this week to revisit The Millionaire Next Door. The difference is this time, I borrowed the item through Overdrive and downloaded it to my e reader from a library far away! So much easier and quicker!
I think also with electronic things it becomes much more difficult for a person to just fix items. And things are not built to last forever anymore.
Simple things like cooking from home are less simple now as our tastes have become more diverse. Specialty ingredients sometimes are required. That said, I still love me a 1960s cookbook!
I think frugal today means examining what is important to you and then allocating your resources according to your needs and values. Same as it always was for me.