Are You Frugal, Cheap, or a Spender?!?!

[SunnieRN]

Since this is the budget board, I thought I would ask this question. I used to be a spender. Not an over spender, no credit card debt, but, I spent happily until my check was gone.

I am now, very late in life unfortunately, trying to become frugal. I am actually having fun saving money.

How about you all? Do you have a budget, retirement savings, savings account, credit cards with balances?

Do you charge your Disney vacations, or pay for them before you go?

I'm looking forward to your answers, as I have learned so much, from so many here!

 

[h2oophelia]

I would consider myself frugal. Being a single mom, I have to be! I spent my younger/college years being foolish with money but luckily, I seem to have outgrown that.

I have a budget. I always have my monthly budgets worked out at least six months in advance. I have a savings account and 401K that have a modest balances, but I'm working on that. I do have a CC with a very small balance, but that's going to be paid off next month.

As far as Disney vacations go...My brother and sis-in-law surprised us with the last trip. I only paid for tips (on the DxDP) and souvenirs. I am planning on taking DD7 to Disneyland (hopefully next year) but it has to be paid for before we go. I don't think I could relax at Disney knowing I was coming home to a huge bill!

 

[dhardawa]

I will spend money freely if I'm getting a good deal, but I'll shop and shop and shop and wait for a good deal on something I need/want. So, for example, when my son needed a new car seat, I knew I'd be buying the Britax Frontier 85 because it was a great seat. At the same time, I wasn't paying the MSRP of $279. So, I waited and watched and finally got it for $200. So, I paid $200 for a car seat, but I got a great seat at a great price. I'm also a tightwad. I don't want to spend money on things like out to eat where I have nothing to show for it. I have no credit card debt because I'm too cheap to hand my money over in the form of interest for nothing (except my house, but that is a necessary evil and I'm working on it). I charge everything to get the points and then pay it off at the end of the month. I have a decent savings and put a good amount in my 401K and also have a small Roth IRA. The kids have college funds too.

Oddly enough, even living like I do, I decided nine days ago to open a new account to start saving for my next Disney trip. I sold some of my son's clothes and moved the money from that to the account, sold off his old car seat and my daughter's booster, sold his baby monitor, deposited my Ebates check there, etc. These were all things where I never really had the money so I didn't miss it. In nine days I have put over $500 in that account. I also have a minimum balance I like to keep in my checking account. I have decided that on payday I'm going to move any money I have over that minimum to the account. You'd be amazed how I just quit spending money when I made this decision and haven't really missed it. I'm hoping to have an extra $150 on Friday to move. So, I guess the point I'm making is that I thought I was pretty tight with money before, but when I needed to, I could really tighten things up and sell off things I wasn't using and come up with a lot of cash!

 

[QVCshopper]

I think I'm thrifty, borderline cheap. I can't help it. I do spend on vacations and Christmas gifts, but I will scrimp on almost everything else.

My dad was out of work a lot when I was a kid (due to job loss and quitting ALL the time--I think the worst was 4 years unemployed) and my mom always says "What did I do to you?" I think part of it is when everyone else spends $15 on a b-day gift, I spend $7.50. Not that my gift isn't as nice; I just really get good deals on almost everything. I actually won't buy it unless it is a good deal. I don't think I even remember something I've paid full price for, except for gas and food... Plus, we make a decent living, which is a blessing.

Anyway, no debt at all, put myself through college, hefty savings/retirement, and working on building up the kid's college funds. It helps that my DH is equally thifty. We take trips from our savings, but we don't have one planned right now.

We have some bigger plans this year, so we're trying to save for those if and when they come about.

I'd say my only true vice right now is American Girl dolls. I really like to share them with my DD and bond with her. I've thrown a good amount at that lately, but even those I can get on sale through work.

 

[homedad]

it depends on some things I'm frugal and I'll spend if I think its worth it......

 

[QVCshopper]

I sold some of my son's clothes and moved the money from that to the account, sold off his old car seat and my daughter's booster, sold his baby monitor, deposited my Ebates check there, etc. These were all things where I never really had the money so I didn't miss it.

How are you selling your stuff? I have a stroller and some purses, but I've never sold anything before; usually I give it away. Thanks for sharing!

 

[blackforest]

Do you have a budget? Not per se, but we do know where our money goes.

Retirement savings? ABOSOLUTELY. DH won't have it any other way. He had a good teacher from my DFil.

Savings accounts? Yes and college accounts for our 2 DD's.

Credit cards with balances? Yes, but, we get great points (Marriott and Southwest) and they get paid off at the end of the month.

Do you charge your Disney and/or other vacations? Yes, but DH is a great money manger and I'm a great planner. By using our credit cards wisely, we may take 6 months to a year to pay it off (the same with large purchases), but that's with no interest credit cards. Also, we don't buy it if we don't have a plan to pay things off.

The other thing is, we chose how we spend our money. Not better, just different. I drive a van with over 140,00 miles on it, while friends of ours get a new car every 2-3 years, but they also can't see how we vacation like we do (Hawaii, WDW, cruises, a weekend in Las Vegas). Everyone has their priorities and money mangement styles.

 

[SunnieRN]

Wow, see what I mean, you are all a wealth of knowledge! I used to waste so much money, eating out, buying my 'grandmunchkins' toys, ALL the time, etc. How much do you budget for gifts? Bithdays, Christmas, small holidays? I used to spend everything I could, no debt though.

I now am budgeting. What is a good amount to everyone? Thanks! Already saving for vacation, cushions for medical, clothing and house maintenance as well as regular savings. It is a lot of fun to see the savings grow!

 

[MamaJessie]

Do you have a budget No
retirement savings DH does through his work
savings account Very minimal, laughable really
credit cards with balances? No credit cards

Do you charge your Disney vacations, or pay for them before you go? No credit cards, so we pay ahead of time. Even when we did have cards though we didn't charge a vacation.

 

[SunnieRN]

Do you have a budget No
retirement savings DH does through his work
savings account Very minimal, laughable really
credit cards with balances? No credit cards

Do you charge your Disney vacations, or pay for them before you go? No credit cards, so we pay ahead of time. Even when we did have cards though we didn't charge a vacation.

You sound like me, only I am single and so it is my retirement account through work. I was on the no buy thread several months ago, but my son in law and daughter had some financial setbacks, so it wiped me out. I started over again in January and am trying to do MUCH better this time around! I am actually loving my budget!

 

[StitchBuddy]

Some people would say I am cheap, some frugal. We have friends that use to laugh at us for ordering water, not appitizers or desserts. But, we have had the last laugh! We go one at least 2 nice vacations a year and are paying off our house in the next year or two. So I wouldn't call myself cheap, I would call myself smart.

 

[Colleen27]

For me whether I'm a spender or a saver is somewhat situational. Regarding our day to day life, friends say I'm frugal. I believe in living simply, and that just doesn't cost as much as keeping up with the Joneses. We own our home outright and are renovating it bit by bit, paying cash for one project at a time. I grow a large garden and put up veggies for the winter, make a lot of our household cleaning products myself, drive an older car and walk when the weather permits, and I have kind of a minimalist mindset when it comes to accumulating stuff. And we don't use credit for anything.

But we have a few hobbies that we indulge, and when it comes to those things I'm much more a spender. We travel as often as our schedules allow and spend a fair bit of our total income on that, and DH & I are both gamers so we upgrade our computers pretty frequently.

We don't have any debt, have a reasonable amount of savings and a decent start on retirement planning, but we don't budget every dime any more (we did when we were transitioning from two incomes to one).

 

[Bungle]

I'm a bit of both. I love to save money, both at the grocery store and stashing it away in the 401k. I use cash for everything and that helps because you really see whats coming and going.

However, when we plan for vacation I put spending money aside each week that I spend freely when we are there. I think there is a time for spending and a time for saving.

 

[travelbug]

it depends on some things I'm frugal and I'll spend if I think its worth it......

Just wanted to say hi to a fellow resident of Rochester Hills!

 

[indimom]

Since this is the budget board, I thought I would ask this question. I used to be a spender. Not an over spender, no credit card debt, but, I spent happily until my check was gone.
I go in fits and starts. Most of the time I'm frugal to cheap, but I have moments where I get a little spend-happy.

I am now, very late in life unfortunately, trying to become frugal. I am actually having fun saving money.

How about you all? Do you have a budget, Yes, to an extent. It's not set in stone because my income varies, but we have a good idea of what we expect to spend each month. retirement savings, YES[/B], but not 15% yet. savings account, YES credit cards with balances? We have credit cards but do not carry over balances.

Do you charge your Disney vacations, or pay for them before you go? We charge to get the rewards and pay off when the bill comes.

I'm looking forward to your answers, as I have learned so much, from so many here!

On the subject of credit cards, we did go about 5 years during our marriage credit card free. We had proved ourselves to be unreliable with them and did not attempt to use them again until we had a pretty solid budget in place and felt we could manage without overextending.

 

[Kay1]

Frugal, meaning to me, that I'm not wasteful. If I'm just as happy with seconhand, I'll go that way. If a tempting restaurant entree is twice as much as another, I'll make sure it will give me twice the enjoyment or I'll order the cheaper meal.

Thank you for starting an interesting thread.

 

[dhardawa]

How are you selling your stuff? I have a stroller and some purses, but I've never sold anything before; usually I give it away. Thanks for sharing!

I put the baby monitor and CARES harness on Ebay. The Boulevard I sold on Criagslist and the booster on a car seat forum. His clothes I sell on parenting/clothing forums. Ebay is really a last resort for me. I'd much rather sell where I'm not hit with a ton of fees and if the item is big (like a stroller) I'd probably stick to Criagslist.

 

[nunzia]

I'd say I'm frugal..to me cheap means, maybe, stingy, and I'm not that. We spent a good chunk of our married live pretty poor and have slowly dragged ourselves up so we are very aware of what we spend and how we spend it. Our debt is our house..I use CC but pay them off in 1 or at the most 2 months, depending..occasionally we'll get something and don't have it in the budget to pay it all off in one swoop, so will pay a bit of interest..I know I make nothing on savings, but still, mentally I hate to take it out of savings unless I have to..silly, I know. We have paid plenty stupid tax (as Dave Ramsey calls it) over the years..did you know owning a restaurant can really suck you dry?? anyway..we've struggled and do quite well as far as we're concerned. We have modest stocks, we both have a couple of retirement plans and savings for trips, long term, emergency and this year I am finally having a savings account for gifts. I buy some all year round on sale..like others I have gotten where I feel totally ripped off if I pay full price. I have alot of people I buy for including 8 (almost 9) grandkids so have a big closet with shelves just for gifts. We rarely buy 'stuff' anymore..although finally caved and got each other a big TV for Christmas..memories are really what is worth spending on.. What we both feel semi secure about is that we know how to live on very little and that is a valuable asset IMO..at any time we can drop our outgo drastically and could live on either one of our salaries..even mine and my pay sucks.

 

[annsteere]

I'd say I'm frugal. Probably some days my family would say cheap.

"Only buy what you want" is part of my financial plan. I try to only spend my money on things I actually want, not what somebody else is trying to sell me.

Once I know for sure what I actually want, I'll spend what it takes to get it. If I can get it cheap, it gives me a little thrill. But, if it costs, it costs.

I tend to pinch pennies day to day and then go for the big spend. I walked to Walgreens yesterday to pick up the oatmeal for .50 but I'm going to Disney.

"As little as possible on needs so you have as much as possible for wants" is another motto. Yesterday I made a profit on malaria meds (thanks to a Target coupon). That money can be better spent on a Mickey bar.

 

[snowywhite89]

I consider myself a moderate. We at on tract for the retirement we want. We have no cc debt and never did. We have an emergency fund. We prepay for out vacations. We don't deny ourselves stuff we want or going out to eat.

We do not hoard stuff or money.

We always help others with both our time and money.