Many of my university friends are both spenders and pinched financially. They have great taste and no money, but have a hard time with anything that smacks of domestic economy measures. I can't find a financial soul mate anywhere there. Lovely women, lots of fun, plenty of smarts, but in denial mode or depressive mode about financial control.
Yet where I teach my evening class, the center coordinator has four kids, makes not very much, and made a comment in passing about not buying the 12 boxes of Kleenex her kids' schools wanted for their classroom until she had a coupon and they were on sale. I knew I'd found a closet frugalitarian! Last night I sent her a link to a local coupon match site, and she was pleased as could be, sending me a couple of new links too.
So--that's my question to all of you out there. Do your friends and colleagues share your taste for economizing like you? Do they make fun of you? Do they make fun of you but eagerly accept your half-off coupons when you have lunch together? Do you have a budget buddy besides all of us?
Secret Frugalitarians
August 24th, 2011 at 06:24 pm
August 24th, 2011 at 06:34 pm 1314207242
For example I spend a lot on premium and organic food and one of my co-workers thinks it is crazy. She will will shop for cheap food only and not eat out.
But... has like 300 monthly cable bill and a cell phone bill close to that amount, which I think is crazy. So to each their own.
August 24th, 2011 at 08:44 pm 1314215089
When we first buckled down and started to get a handle on our finances, we had no extra money to spare, and we were open about it with our friends. I didn't think it needed to be any big secret, and it would have been hard to hide anyway. I don't know how most people think of us, but I hope it's made an impression how we really cut back to get rid of our Credit card debt and now have a much better lifestyle (while still being budget-minded).
I did have my best friend and his partner--they came clean about going through a tough financial time about a year after we admitted our situation. For a while it seemed like they would follow a similar path to ours, but they couldn't stick to it--they blew through a huge tax return that was going to get them out of trouble, ended up losing their house, and though they seem a lot happier renting and doing jobs they like, I imagine they're still in debt up to their eyeballs and have virtually nothing saved for retirement. I think they're both in fields that could eventually pay a lot, so I'm just hoping they can play catchup eventually and save themselves from a poverty-stricken retirement.
August 24th, 2011 at 10:40 pm 1314222049
August 25th, 2011 at 02:38 am 1314236303
August 25th, 2011 at 03:15 pm 1314281717
Before my friend came to the enlightened side, I had to look elsewhere. Besides my birth family, I subscribed to The Tightwad Gazette, read tons of books from the library, and then once the internet came into being, found many like-minded souls with the very best right here at this site
August 25th, 2011 at 03:30 pm 1314282610
August 25th, 2011 at 09:25 pm 1314303905