Hey there,

Thank you very much for all the great kind words, I am really trying my best to live well below my means, or as one of my friend said, I am living paycheck to paycheck like everyone else, just mine is by choice, not because I have to.

Thank you again:)

Have a great day to all savers out there:)

Ok, I just read all the comments.  I know saying my mattress is the most expensive piece of furniture is a bold statement but let me break down the math for you:

I am a student, and not married at the moment.  My boyfriend and I both want to get married in the next year or two, so we know we will move a lot, and what ever furniture we buy now may not be the furniture we want to use for future.

When I am buying furniture for my apartment, I bought my mattress brand new (I believe I paid around $800 for a queen size in 2005) which now I think is not a smart move at all.  But the rest of the furniture (an armchair, a coach and a desk, chairs, etc..) I bought used or from IKEA, so all other furniture in my apartment was less than $100 a piece.  Which makes my mattress the most expensive purchase.

That being said, I own a TV which stopped working couple of months ago and frankly I am not buying or planning on buying a new TV.  I have a laptop and an internet connection, so I can watch movies and tv online.  I don't own fancy gadgets (mostly because I don't NEED them).

About my life of quality, sometimes I wish I had nice furniture, I see people living in beautifully decorated homes and I appreciate the effort, time and money spent on that decoration.  But unfortunately at this point in my life I CANNOT afford to spend my hard saved money on furniture.  Last year I was around $12000 in debt, and believe me I lost sleep so many nights thinking how am I going to pay it off, I had no quality of life due to constant worrying and not getting ahead.

I am doing what is good for me and what works for me.  At this point in my life with my current income, my priority is to save for the rainy day, have an emergency fund and save a little for my retirement.

I really admire you, orange, for your determination to live a frugal lifestyle. Clearly, this has helped you to weather the tough economic times, and is a lesson that many of us could learn from.

Everyone lives with a different set of circumstances, but I truly believe that even in times of recession, there are basic rules that need to be followed to keep our personal finances in check. Here's a short article I wrote with some tips for doing just that: hubpages.com/.../10WaysToKeepYourPersonalFinancesInCheck

Orange, again, thanks for sharing your circumstances! And please, don't feel like you need to justify the reason why your mattress is the most expensive piece of furniture you own. If it doesn't bother you, nobody else should have an issue with it either. Whereas many of us put the desire for a pretty home above our financial well being, you're looking at the flipside - there's a lot to be said for having a low level of financial stress!

I saw it coming, and, although I have no debt besides my mortgage, I immediately took steps to tighten my belt.  I have asked if I can telecommute a couple of days a week to save both gas and wear-and-tear on my car.  I downshifted from a rather pricey hair salon to a budget salon, as I have a very basic hairstyle anyway.  I now eat out once a month rather than once a week.  I shop food specials, cook once on the weekends, freeze meals, and eat very well during the week.  I had plans to redo my kitchen and bathrooms, but rather than cancelling them, I am redoing them myself, with a little paid help here and there.  Shopping well, I have redone my kitchen with all new appliances for $3500, one bathroom fore $250 and the other for $160.  When this recession is over, or the market turns, I will be prepared to sell my home and move to a place that is better for me.

From a material perspective, Orange is doing way better than DH & me. We don't even have a mattress!  We don't eat out. We cook from scratch. We have a very old computer. I can't even remember the last time we went to a movie or purchased a book from a bookstore.  Though we do have a family gym membership.

Yeah, we're pathetic right?

Consider: At the beginning of 2008 our credit card debt totaled roughly $33k spread over 6 cards. Our car loan, $1500. No emergency savings. Constant stress and fear that it would blow up in our faces.

October 2008: Car loan? Gone. Paid off 2 months early. Emergency fund? Not huge, but there's a 1k in there so it's something. Credit card debt? ONE card left with a balance of just under $6k. On track to have it paid off by year's end. The fear and stress? Mostly evaporated. Not only do we have a plan, we have peace of mind and though intangible, it is priceless.

Our quality of life has improved because we have peace of mind. And not just about reducing our debt. Because of all the sacrifices (choices) we have made this year, we are NOT freaked out about what's happening in the economy right now. We have gotten so used to "skin flint" living that we WILL weather the current bad times and we WILL have peace of mind while going through it.

In economics there is something called opportunity cost. That is the cost of the person's choices. What did the person give up by making the choice he or she made? By reducing our debt we have given up being a slave to our debt, we have given up being freaked out ALL the time, we have given up feeling desperate, as if we are about to fall off a cliff. So we don't have a mattress. So we don't eat out, go to movies, etc. We are still better off that MOST people in the world and I am grateful every day for what I DO have.

I agree with Orange.  Me and my husband make more than $85,000 a year combined but choose to live on about $30,000.  We are both in our twenties and have a net worth of over $120,000.  When we got married he had a car loan and bad credit due to a previous marriage.  Now...no car loans for either of us and credit cards get used for gas and get paid off every month.  I too would someday like a nice home with comfortable new furniture but for now while we can we choose to live as far below our means as possible.  OUR MATTRESS IS ALSO THE MOST EXPENSIVE PIECE OF FURNITURE WE OWN!!!!   I would much rather like the small amount of stuff we have than worry about how I am going to pay for tons of stuff I really don't need.

Did not intend to offend, what I am pointing out is that as Americans in this day and age it seems that the younger people are okay with IKEA and living thrifty where as I believe that if your family has been in this country for a few generations then you should be able to buy your furniture at Ethan Allen or maybe Thomasville---not hung up on materialistic things at all, just making the point about taking on a third world mentality---it seems to be the way we are headed and it kind of scares me---it's as if America  and all that it had to offer has been gobbled up by the ultra rich and that we the common people are to share the bag of shells left behind. Just a perspective not an attack---sorry if i offended anyone.

You think she is frugal! I make over $120k a year. I give blood to get free movie tickets. I bring my lunch in a brown bag with my sandwich wrapped in my neighbors newspaper. I reuse a water bottle to fill from the water cooler at work. I use bean cans to drink my coffe and jelly jars for tea glasses. I make sandwiches by slicing the bread sideways, and purchase meat from the sell by date markdown at the market.

I think real estate is a good investment and never sell at a loss. Best advice, you make your money when you buy it. If you pay the wrong price you can never make money on any commodity, no matter what it is.

My mattress is the most expensive piece of furniture I own too. I can't think of what else it would be?