Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Chickerdoodle13]

I'm a huge fan of Netflix. It's only $8 a month and has pretty much something for everyone. It's what I went to so that I could save money on cable but still have something to do when I wanted to watch TV.

 

[KentuckyMom]

@Beekissed
You hit the nail on the head. Wants and needs are two very different things.

 

[perchie.girl]

for what its worth I havent had a checkbook in about thirty years. I use an ATM card for bill payment. Its got a MasterCard logo but thats only for those places that absolutely do not take ATM.


This way I cannot buy anything I cannot afford. And It makes me save up money for things that are a bit more than I normally buy. Yep I get denied occasionally... thats my running issue and the reason I stopped having a check book so long ago.

But I m infinitely happier without that worry OMG is that check going to bounce...

Its hard to do if you are in debt... I am not so bad as some. But when I was working making 80,000 a year I was always in debt scrambling to make ends meet... Not saving money for a rainy day. Chredit cards, Car loans, Mortgages...

I bought my last new car in 1984... I bought my last car on an auto loan in 2004.

The way to dig out of debt is not to go in any longer. Live with your bills and working on paying one off. Then once that one is paid off without changing. intead of saying woo hoo now I can buy something... take that money and add it to the next loan. Then the snow ball begins. If you pay an extra fifty dollars on your mortgage and designate it toward your principal you will pay your mortgage off in half the time.

deb

 

[Outpost JWB]

Never owned a new car, or had a car loan, or home loan or any type of loan. I don't own credit cards either @perchie.girl . If we can't pay cash, we don't need it. Our home may not be elaborate, but we are working on it to make it what we want. We still have the monthly bills which I'd really like to cut down. Especially our $200 a month cable, home phone & internet bill. Can't talk DH into giving any of that up. But working on lessening those other bills. Becoming more self sufficient.

 

[erinszoo]

Since we can't seem to bring in any more money than we already do, we've been trying to slow the output of money. I convinced SO to cancel his AmazonPrime - well, he's locked in until November but then he will cancel. We went to a bare-bones cell plan. I'm trying to convince him to give up cable - we have the basic local channels only but I'm concerned an antenna will not work. Internet is the basic, but I have to keep that due to my job. I also plan to cancel our trash service. We recycle everything anyway. I've made a bet with him to see how long he can go without spending any money. He's been bringing his lunch to work, not buying coffee out..it's been going well. I've also been using everything up in the pantry and shopping only for fresh veggies when we need them.

I'm trying to convince my husband to do the same ... only we can't cancel our cable because our internet and cable are one bill and our daughter in is virtual school and uses the internet every day to do her school work. Nor can I cancel trash service since it's part of our city utility bill. Ugh.

 

[oldrooster]

Quote:
your correct, I have not had cable most all my life, lived in the same house for 38 years and cable is simply not available even if I had the money for it. people say they can't understand how I can live without it. like it is essential to life like food water and air.. I have not used air conditioning for several years, use a whole house fan. (in essence a fan that sucks the air from open windows thru the house into the attic, and most attics as old as the house is are built not to be 100% air tight they are built for the living space to be, so the air filters back outside and also helps cool the attic thus reducing the heat of the house from a hot attic.) Had someone tell me I would literally die if I never used air conditioning. I guess man kind must have been created/evolved just about 100 years ago and instantly produced air conditioning, since it has been only used in wide spread use in the last 100 years or less. If used just when I am home it costs me less $$$$ than air. Same goes for "smart phones" (personally most of the people I see use them a lot don't seem so smart, and neither does the phones to me) I use my pre-paid flip phone for calls and a FEW texts (like sending get milk to someone at the store, will be 15 minutes late etc. something that would take more time and effort to call and do the whole hello and have a conversation when I don't need or even want to talk sometimes just to send a brief to the point message and speak to them personally a few minutes or a couple of hours later.) I use the pre-paid enough for 6 months to break even or get ahead by using a phone plan if I had one, but the other 6 months I save more than I would spend the whole year if I had a plan. I mentioned a few years back I had to have the septic pumped, got asked why I was not on the sewer system I replied I could not afford a low flow line ran about 7 miles to my house and hook up, esp since I rarely had to pump my tank and would get billed monthly for the sewer system. I don't care what the Kardashians do, lived most of my life before I found out who or what a "snookie" was. as the song goes God is great beer is good (although I can't stand the taste and thankfully can;t do to a health problem) and people are crazy.

 

[Outpost JWB]

I'm trying to convince my husband to do the same ... only we can't cancel our cable because our internet and cable are one bill and our daughter in is virtual school and uses the internet every day to do her school work. Nor can I cancel trash service since it's part of our city utility bill. Ugh.

Ours too is all tied together. Cable, phone and internet. Daughter goes to public school, but needs internet for a lot of projects. Waiting at the library for net access is not an option for us. As far as the post by @Old rooster , I'd say you are lucky. They come out and inspect our sewer system every 3 years. Right after we moved in, it cost over $2,000 to pass inspection for the sewer system. That was a huge OUCH! I think we all we ate were Ramen noodles for 2 months straight. But if it wasn't fixed the already compiling fines and fees would get worse & they would have condemned our house. Crazy how the rules are so different in zoning. No consistency whatsoever.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: My kids MUST have internet connection and PC or laptop. Teachers say they dont give better grades to hand written reports but I have seen how picky they are and mark EVERY mispelled word. I would rather my kids focus on the idea they want to write and then use the spell check for spelling. . . .they find words that they thought were spelled correctly that way too!! lol

I went to the library last night for the wifi, which we dont have, or MacDonalds is another option. I do buy a cup of joe for $1.06 though.

This morning son needed to understand how electricity is used to make a horn in a car honk--- used Wikipedia, not the best source but it was quick and info made sense.

 

[Outpost JWB]

In todays times, the internet is a definite necessity. I know, I lived without it as a child and I turned out fine. Right?

But, most recently I went on a job search-career path change-for the betterment of our family. It took me over 6 months to find a job. I was not being picky either. And I have been at my current employer for over 17years.

When I finally found a job, I am taking a significant pay cut, no benefits and less hours. Every company now has applications ONLY online. And many have online assessment tests. Most companies also require extensive knowledge of computer programs such as WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT, Etc. Most employers also require a minimum of 2year experience in the field you are applying for and an Associate or Bachelor degree. For the future of my daughter, cutting out internet access is not an option.

In the end, I am hoping the job move IS still better for my family.

 

[alldembirds]

we didnt have a computer in the house till i was a junior in high school i am fine,

edited because i had more to say I have never owned a cell phone , it's kinda weird to me that everybody has one, my wife will ask me to do something on her phone and I can't even get past the first screen lol, maybe not having a computer stunted my growth technologically . We cant get cable either but who needs it.

we just bought a little projector that comes in a box for her cell phone. its cardboard and needs assembled, it has real glass lenses and is supposed to project the magnified image and amplify the sound without power. can't wait to put it together and try it out