Someone who chooses to live in Hawaii who isn't a multimillionaire might need to pick up some serious economizing skills. A good starting place for living a frugal life might well start with choosing where to live. To each his own, JMO.
Agreed, but what if you're born there, if generations of your family live there and it is "home"? Taxes should never force anyone to leave where they live. Then it can (and will) be weaponized to drive out the "undesirables".
I am well aware that this can be a complicated topic for many people. Several years ago I had some winter neighbors who were residents of northwest Ontario, CA. I asked him if they liked living up there and he answered quickly and plainly "NO". This is in AZ.
I wasn't just thinking about taxes, but also the cost of housing, the isolation and higher prices for consumer goods, groceries, electricity, travel and so on. I have traveled the U.S. and I have seen places where I asked myself, "how could anyone choose to get stuck here?"
Regardless, I believe quite strongly that it is wise to practice thrift wherever you are.
My wife loves shopping, and with all the great stuff from Amazon and Asia, we feel like we are getting a bargain when ordering online. But she always asks the price of her tequila before ordering...and even though some of her friends feel embarrassed, she does it regardless. Frugality is almost like a religion for us!
When I first retired a few years ago, I thought I would probably have to do some part-time work after about one year. However, I decided to adopt a low income lifestyle. That is something I knew all about because I had been very poor in my early years, and after some other unfortunate circumstances about 20 years ago, not to mention how much of my retirement that I lost in 2009. Thank you big banks. I also worked in the social services field, and I saw a lot of poor people who lived better than many of their peers because they were so frugal. After 2 1/2 years of retirement, I still have my emergency, last resort savings, which I intend to pass on to my children. My cash reserve is low, but it’s not below my minimum. I live within my means, and I am quite happy. I’m not doing as much traveling as I had intended to do, but frankly, I enjoy taking care of my home and taking advantage of all the nearby recreational activities. Traveling is expensive. But when I do travel, I take my own food, and I stay in a tent instead of an expensive hotel.
I saw myself in that article. I reuse small and large freezer bags several times before I have to throw them out. And very often it happens that when I finally decide to throw something away that I think I’ll never need, within a few weeks I find that I could’ve used that thing. Nevertheless, I watch out for hoarding. Every so often I just have to get rid of stuff that I haven’t used in years.
Love this! Especially the repair it mentality. Living in Mexico you see tons of this. Most everything here in rural Mexico gets fixed/repaired numerous times. Yes, it because money is much tighter out here. It's also the right thing to do. People here realize that. We don't use clothes dryers for example. (Although the citified Mexicans are starting to.) We use the great solar dryper. Wire strung between two poles with clothes hangers. Lots of other examples abound here.
Cars can be repaired infinitely. As long as you want to replace parts they keep going. The magical part is to take good care of the maintenance..that makes repairs cost less and improves reliability. I love my 56 year old car as well as my 45, 30 and 10 year old cars. I can jump into any of them and drive worry free as far as I want to go.
The biggest issue I face with frugality and repairing things comes from my wife, which is unfortunate because you know the saying, 'a happy wife is a happy life' (and vice versa).
She has areal problem with anything being broken, and that includes things that have been repaired less than perfectly. To me something that is worn or a little damaged/broken is not that big of a deal but she hates it.
We disagree on food and leftovers too. Whenever I consider what to make for a meal I consider what we have and and 'what needs to be eaten' and create something accordingly. I also like leftovers, but she'll rarely eat them. "What, are we poor?," is often her refrain.
I actually abhor waste of anything. In my construction company I constantly try to return or give away
things so not to throw them away. It always amazes me how difficult it is to give away appliances or furniture, for example. An entire kitchen full of 2 or 3 year old appliances that might have cost, say, $30k nobody wants, and some will only take furniture if we deliver it to them. Amazing.
Honestly, if things really do get bad, my main concern is living with my wife. I fear being hungry or thirsty or inconvenienced will be nothing compared to her crying and anger at the universe, and of course it will somehow be my fault.
Hopefully, the inevitable is still a few decades away.
I don't see it as a skill per se'. It's common sense to save it rather than chuck it. I'll fix just about anything rather than chuck it out. I'm also an ex farmer and fisherman so fixing things is second nature. You can't nip down to the hardware store when you're 70 miles offshore and only a day into a 5 date trip. You learn to save everything because you never know when you might need it or something like it to fix something. Even now when shoreside, it's second nature to save and fix. So I don't see it as a skill. I just see it as something I do without thinking about it.
I've been a professional actor most of my life which means I have been frugal most of it, now I am debt free own my own modest house and car and travel and stay elsewhere for longer periods,
I completely rebuilt my own house and quite often fix my 18 year old VW. Almost everyone I know is in debt.
Someone who chooses to live in Hawaii who isn't a multimillionaire might need to pick up some serious economizing skills. A good starting place for living a frugal life might well start with choosing where to live. To each his own, JMO.
Agreed, but what if you're born there, if generations of your family live there and it is "home"? Taxes should never force anyone to leave where they live. Then it can (and will) be weaponized to drive out the "undesirables".
I am well aware that this can be a complicated topic for many people. Several years ago I had some winter neighbors who were residents of northwest Ontario, CA. I asked him if they liked living up there and he answered quickly and plainly "NO". This is in AZ.
I wasn't just thinking about taxes, but also the cost of housing, the isolation and higher prices for consumer goods, groceries, electricity, travel and so on. I have traveled the U.S. and I have seen places where I asked myself, "how could anyone choose to get stuck here?"
Regardless, I believe quite strongly that it is wise to practice thrift wherever you are.
My wife loves shopping, and with all the great stuff from Amazon and Asia, we feel like we are getting a bargain when ordering online. But she always asks the price of her tequila before ordering...and even though some of her friends feel embarrassed, she does it regardless. Frugality is almost like a religion for us!
Tell it to the wife.
When I first retired a few years ago, I thought I would probably have to do some part-time work after about one year. However, I decided to adopt a low income lifestyle. That is something I knew all about because I had been very poor in my early years, and after some other unfortunate circumstances about 20 years ago, not to mention how much of my retirement that I lost in 2009. Thank you big banks. I also worked in the social services field, and I saw a lot of poor people who lived better than many of their peers because they were so frugal. After 2 1/2 years of retirement, I still have my emergency, last resort savings, which I intend to pass on to my children. My cash reserve is low, but it’s not below my minimum. I live within my means, and I am quite happy. I’m not doing as much traveling as I had intended to do, but frankly, I enjoy taking care of my home and taking advantage of all the nearby recreational activities. Traveling is expensive. But when I do travel, I take my own food, and I stay in a tent instead of an expensive hotel.
I saw myself in that article. I reuse small and large freezer bags several times before I have to throw them out. And very often it happens that when I finally decide to throw something away that I think I’ll never need, within a few weeks I find that I could’ve used that thing. Nevertheless, I watch out for hoarding. Every so often I just have to get rid of stuff that I haven’t used in years.
19 trillion in personal debt atests to a lack of frugality amongst the general population.
Love this! Especially the repair it mentality. Living in Mexico you see tons of this. Most everything here in rural Mexico gets fixed/repaired numerous times. Yes, it because money is much tighter out here. It's also the right thing to do. People here realize that. We don't use clothes dryers for example. (Although the citified Mexicans are starting to.) We use the great solar dryper. Wire strung between two poles with clothes hangers. Lots of other examples abound here.
Cars can be repaired infinitely. As long as you want to replace parts they keep going. The magical part is to take good care of the maintenance..that makes repairs cost less and improves reliability. I love my 56 year old car as well as my 45, 30 and 10 year old cars. I can jump into any of them and drive worry free as far as I want to go.
Love the concept of having working old stuff as something to be proud of.
It used to be said in a negative way to describe some as ‘ he is a jack of all and a master of none’. Now it is essential for survival
The biggest issue I face with frugality and repairing things comes from my wife, which is unfortunate because you know the saying, 'a happy wife is a happy life' (and vice versa).
She has areal problem with anything being broken, and that includes things that have been repaired less than perfectly. To me something that is worn or a little damaged/broken is not that big of a deal but she hates it.
We disagree on food and leftovers too. Whenever I consider what to make for a meal I consider what we have and and 'what needs to be eaten' and create something accordingly. I also like leftovers, but she'll rarely eat them. "What, are we poor?," is often her refrain.
I actually abhor waste of anything. In my construction company I constantly try to return or give away
things so not to throw them away. It always amazes me how difficult it is to give away appliances or furniture, for example. An entire kitchen full of 2 or 3 year old appliances that might have cost, say, $30k nobody wants, and some will only take furniture if we deliver it to them. Amazing.
Honestly, if things really do get bad, my main concern is living with my wife. I fear being hungry or thirsty or inconvenienced will be nothing compared to her crying and anger at the universe, and of course it will somehow be my fault.
Hopefully, the inevitable is still a few decades away.
You are very tolerant.
Let's hope that you get to be appreciated - not that I want things to get dire.
You are showing really an important aspect of mate choosing.
There are always engineers who will overide the most difficult of problems like fixing an electronic toaster: https://interestingengineering.com/videos/bizarre-device-never-invented?utm_source=newsletter-video&utm_medium=mailing&utm_campaign=newsletter-02-04-2022
I don't see it as a skill per se'. It's common sense to save it rather than chuck it. I'll fix just about anything rather than chuck it out. I'm also an ex farmer and fisherman so fixing things is second nature. You can't nip down to the hardware store when you're 70 miles offshore and only a day into a 5 date trip. You learn to save everything because you never know when you might need it or something like it to fix something. Even now when shoreside, it's second nature to save and fix. So I don't see it as a skill. I just see it as something I do without thinking about it.
I like you even more now John!
I've been a professional actor most of my life which means I have been frugal most of it, now I am debt free own my own modest house and car and travel and stay elsewhere for longer periods,
I completely rebuilt my own house and quite often fix my 18 year old VW. Almost everyone I know is in debt.
Guilty. I am completely appalled at my credit card statement each month. I don’t know the difference between a drywall screw and a machine screw.
A toaster is a waste of precious electricity! Eat that bread cold.