7 Comments

  1. Amanda in the UK

    Hello Penny, and thank you for your post. I’m about to reach an – ahem – significant birthday so I’m treating the extended family to a posh lunch to mark the occasion and thank them for their many kindnesses. This is going to be expensive; the frugal side of me is reeling in horror because (a) it’s a lot of money and, (b) I should be saving this for a rainy day. But the point is, I have the money, I won’t be living off dry biscuits until next payday and one of the reasons for being frugal is to save money for occasional fun! Thank you so much for clarifying it for me in your great post.

    Incidentally, I’m not buying anything new to wear, just a dress bought for a wedding, teamed with a scarf my sister gave me a couple of years ago and it looks great! I wouldn’t have dreamed up that combination if I hadn’t been frugal in the first place!

    Enjoy your Canadian trip.

  2. Fire in the hole

    Great post! I do consider myself frugal but only in certain aspects. My philosophy is that if I’m just as fine with the $4 thrift store item as I would be with a $40 full-price item, I should only spend the $4. Because there are some things (nice wine) that I can’t get for $4. Basically, picking and choosing when to save and when to splurge.

    You are doing your son a HUGE favor. My parents are uber-frugal and yeah there was a lot I didn’t have when I was growing up (trendy toys, designer clothes, etc.) but my folks retired in their 50’s and I know they’ll never need to have me financial support them or ‘chip in’ or anything like that. So I am VERY glad they made the choices they made! Many of my friends are financially helping out their elderly parents. So I know how fortunate I am (and how fortunate your son is)!

  3. Loved reading this post. I have been realizing that finding your why is so important in the beginning of any life goal. But it just as important to remember it as you work towards your goal.

    For me, I struggle with getting stuck in that frugality mindset. Often I have to remind myself of our goals and that we ARE on track to meet them. And it’s OK to spend the entire amount we have allocated for vacations on vacations.

    It’s been a constant battle in my head, so it’s nice to know others have similar thoughts and how they worked through them.

  4. We are pretty frugal, but certainly have taken the foot off the gas in recent years. I do think it is easy to forget the “why”, but we have been focusing on quality purchases lately (including a $100 de-boning knife believe it or not).

    Take care! Max

  5. I don’t know if people know what a massive gift it is not to have to worry about supporting parents in their later years but every time someone says they want to give their kid ALL THE THINGS, I reflect on how that is the big gift I want to give JB: a loving set of healthy, supportive parents who don’t lean on zir too early and too heavily, and the freedom that comes with that lack of responsibility. And for us, we’ve worked long and hard together, we deserve to have some years to enjoy together before my body quits on me.

    That’s why we’re frugal and/or careful with our money no matter how much we make.

    • My heart, Revanche. My heart.

      That is all my parents focused on the last few years of their working careers. Making sure they had enough to take care of themselves. My mom supported my nana for essentially her whole life. I would gladly (try to) do it for my parents, but I know they want to at least have the financial piece handled. We do live very close for that reason, though. They care for HP a lot now, and we know that we will care more and more for them as time goes on.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.