It's all relative isn't it?

Money doesn't buy happiness and you aren't going to take it to heaven with you.  I am proud to be generous and feel it has contributed to why my husband and I have been financially successful.  When you are generous, other people are usually generous in return.  It makes your days ever so much more joyful!  

Rachael that was quite a story about the woman who bragged and then was dumped by her Doctor husband. Ladies - take notice and keep track of your spending. You don;t need designer dresses and new cars. Stop braging about what you have because if you stop and really pay attention its whats on the inside that's important.

There are too many wanna be's and people pretending to be someone they are not. No one likes pretenders - be happy with who you are and accept yourself and then maybe then people wil accept you for who YOU are

            LIFE APROACH TO MOnEY-  You can aspire to consume more and satisfie your desiers or you can push harder to raise you long term station and comfort level in life. For A child of depression parents it is clearly beter to understand the following concept regardles of you earning statis your ultimate wealth (comfort level) will be directly related to how much you can save . WHAT YOU SAVE IS WHAT YOUR ULTIMATE WEALTH IS! except as a consiqence of marraige and death. what you earn is the least relevent factor in wealth accumulation!!

I have been always very carefull with money.I always kept 10,000 in cash around for emergencys.My husband and i lived debt free for five years of our marriage then he was forced to buy land with his family that we couldnt afford.we had to give them all of our saving 160,000 for a down payment and 90,000 for the first three years payments.Now we are trying to make 33,000 land payment for 20 years and a 9600 house payment on land and house we only own 1/3 interest.We only make 70,000 dollars a year.we drive a 94 pickup and are living on 16,000 a year with 3 kids at home still.I live under stress living like this.I dont know how people stand it.after being debt free only paying cash and not having credit cards this sitution is killing me.Also his family will not allow us to work off the family farm for extra money to pay our debts.every year we are borrowing more and more money to make ends meet.Am looking for a farm money advice on how to work our way out of this problem I really need help.a ranchers wife

GIVING EQUALS RECEIVING, the more I give the more secure and needed I feel, in other words, it motivates me to give, I can't be frugal, yet I'm not wasteful. I read that there are 35 million hungry people in the U.S. I diligently look for food sales to donate to local shelters. I could'nt sleep knowing I could've helped and did'nt.

Frugality is  generally a good thing.  I used to be very frugal throughout my younger years, shopping at  thrift stores and never buying anything  at regular price , paying to my savings account  before spending in other stuff,etc.  That  brought me some  financial freedom over the years.  Then, a  collegue died of cancer in a matter of  months.  That put things in perspective. I told myself "Do  i want to be saving money all the time   and  maybe going without  certain things that will make my life more enjoyable?  What if  i disappeared form this world tomorrow like my  friend.  Well,I decided to live  a more  balanced life when it comes to spending money. I went and bought me a second  car ( a pick up truck) that i always wanted.  And now there  are certain things that  I never think twice to spend on like  eating out or going to movies  as often  as  i wanto ( I am  a film buff) or to  sporting events, etc.  I still don't buy clothes at the mall and prefer to shop at discount stores. And I still will not spend on a  luxury car or  buy superfluous stuff.  It works for me.

It took me many years to learn frugality. I wished my Gram had lived longer to have taught me- she lived through the depression. My folks were each only children and had it all and subsequently taught us nothing of saving and thift. I had to overcome that damage. It took having less and less as I lived my own adult life with it's misfortunes and being forced to make do. The less I had the more I appreciated it and regretted the wasteful times when I had more and did so little with it.  My ferverent intent and prayer is to keep a healthy attitude , stay away from poverty consciousness (evil) and to be a good steward of all my resources.  

That said I try to be frugal while honoring the efforts of the NON big box mart vendors, though I go there for many things.   One great thing I found online was that my community has a 'Cheapcycle' group that people post items on.  Yard sales are a basic, my apt is a mix of yard sale chic and some store bought items. My snob of a parent never allowed yard sales, yet struggles toward retirement with very little saved.  I live on a very tight budget without chance of more employment due to poor health but I have moved to a state with low housing costs and people aren't ashamed of flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales.

Eating in is way healthier. I learned to really like beans, many meatless meals are good for me and cheaper. Once a week or more I share a meal with a friend, this rotates. I help the planet by using cloth shopping bags and learned to refill jugs of  filtered water at the Health food store for 1/3 the cost of buying new throwaway plastic gallons every week. Farmers markets for fresh produce when I can't grow my own.

To Ms.Finkbeiner, nobody can force you, you have to submit and agree. Sounds bad. Find some help fast! God Bless.

I have always been careful abount spending and an average saver until I married my 2nd husband at 28 years old. He was 35. He had a FEAR of not having a place to live, from his upbringing, and well deserved. We formulated a plan, paid off everything we owed including the house and saved a tremendous amount of money in the next year after the home was paid for. We shopped at thrift stores and sale racks. We ate out, but at Mom & Pop restaurants. We owned older vehicles that we paid cash for. We did our own maintenance. I learned to cook and loved it. And I couldn't believe how much money we were saving. I took advantage of free events and passes for entertainment and we had some of the best times of our lives. Then he died of a heart attack. I miss him terribly, however his fear translated into a solid life for me. I work and have no bills. It makes my life so much easier. I am working on help with college for my 2 nefews when they get old enough. His fear translated into a wonderful gift to all of us.

My frugal lifestyle started when I heard 2 Marines talking about retiring after 20+ years in the military.  They both felt compelled to take the first job that they were offered after retirement, no matter what the pay, because of their financial situation.  I had been in the Marines for only 2 years.  I swore not to let that happen to me.

Immediately I started asking myself the question "Do I need this or do I want it?  If I couldn't answer "yes" to the need question I didn't buy it.  

For more than 25 years  it has been my mission to amass as much net worth as I could to allow me to retire and do whatever I wanted to do.   I am not a millionare, but I own 2 homes, 3 cars, and a 5 acre piece of property, and have a good chunk of money stashed away.  I can retire now;  take a sabbatical for as long as I need to; and even pay for my boys college without taking out loans or blinking an eye.  You see, being frugal has shown me that I can live on about 50% of my pay.    

Even my wife has come around and acknowledges that even though it was painful for her at times (we pooled our income), my strategy of saving was the right thing to do.  We are both planning on a 1 year sabbatical after my retirement which we will use to relax, enjoy life, and research franchises.   Cancun here we come!