Frugality thead:work less, spend less

[Emergent]

I want to gear down now, work less, live on less. My dear departed Mom used to say "A penny saved is a penny earned ". That came from Poor Richard's Almanac she told me, Ben Franklin's collection of wisdom.

Many nurses are caught on the hamster wheel, working a lot and living high on the hog. They buy expensive cars, houses, boats, RVS on credit, go on pricy trips, and work like dogs to pay for it, one illness or accident away from financial distress.

You read on this site how many of us are burnt out. In real life I see that as well, and know more about my coworker's lives. I see a lot of expensive and wasteful habits out there.

This thread is for those interested in a simpler, less consumerist lifestyle. How can we enjoy life more, with more free time but less money? Spending less time at the nursing grindstone might relieve stress too!

[cracklingkraken, ASN, RN]

Farawyn doesn't wear shoes, she has rather large country Hobbit feet.

She does display those shoe purchases nicely in her curio cabinet, however.

I was referring to the custom ordered shoes. Size 13 EEE shoes, was it?

[toomuchbaloney]

Holy cow, I lost my bearings!

This is the yellow side.

Yellow topics, yellow humor.

[Farawyn]

Holy cow, I lost my bearings!

This is the yellow side.

Yellow topics, yellow humor.

Yea, take it down a notch and be cool, baloney.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Some people wondered how it's possible to save 40-50 percent? I'm fortunate to make 100 thousand where I live. Cost of living is high, but I have no children and no expensive habits to eat my savings.

I lived on 40,000 a year before I was a nurse so living on much less is not a stretch for me. Also I bought a nice home at a good price with 27 percent down, so my mortgage is less than renting.

[mc3, ASN, RN]

I have a question for those who have gotten rid of their cable company. You still need the internet to get to Netflix, etc. right? so you have still have to pay something for the line. If you use your computer to view shows, etc. how do you know what's on and when? Can you still watch the news? If so, how? I do have Apple TV, and I've seen shows there. I'm really hoping to give up the hated cable company thieves, but not sure how to go about doing it. I admit we are not computer savvy at all, although manage to get around.

Love this thread! It's giving me inspiration to try and cut back and live "simply", although we are hardly spenders to begin with.

Thanks

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

You will require either internet or some type of data plan on your phone that can be transferred to a tablet to view Netflix and other shows yes.

You tube surprisingly has full length content of various tv shows and movies for free.

There is zulu and various other platforms that offer news content. Aside from that, I buy the tv shows that I like on Amazon or second hand once in a while. I can pick up cheap dvds for 2-10 dollars, depending where I shop.

I haven't had cable for 20 years and I don't miss it. You adapt. I refuse to pay 100 per month to channel surf.

[Fiona59]

The mortgage is paid! Deposit the mortgage payment into a savings account. You know that roof will need replacing, the hot water tank will quit, something will happen.

When we married, we decided to live on his wages, anything I made was "gravy money". Built the nest egg, paid for trips.

Yes, we had some very lean years, but we were never in debt. Our cars were old, we didn't travel. Eating out was a once a month trip to MacDonalds so the kids could play in the ball room.

The kids were always turned out in clean clothes, some hand me downs for sure. but they never noticed or cared.

I've raised two reasonably well adjusted financially responsible humans. They learnt to value what they have.

So not having the biggest, best, or latest never hurt them at all. They had hamsters, a small aquarium and one dog at a time.

I feel like I've invested in my future by raising caring human beings.

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

I see alot of comments about home ownership and such. I don't know why, but I have been feeling like home-ownership may not be for me. I don't think I like the idea of being responsible for repairs/maintenance or being tied down to one place for a long period of time. I realize that this may just be my naivete and inexperience talking and that this may change once I decide to start a family, but is there anyone on this thread who has managed to NOT become a home-owner? How have you fared?

[BonnieSc]

Some of yall must live in hovels or cheap areas. If I put 50% of my paycheck in savings I'd be living in a box. The COL is not cheap in my area, and the wages are relatively low.

Nope! I put 50% into savings and last time I was living in the US, I was in an expensive city and lived in an apartment in the most expensive part of town. Granted, it was kind of a box... but not a literal box. I have a few requirements or "wants" for the place I live, but they aren't much. The neighborhood is more important to me (easy access to grocery stores, library, physically attractive locale, interesting people around). I've never lived anywhere that isn't clean and and in good repair and safe. But my apartments are always relatively small. Other things matter more to me, like good food (I buy local/organic meats and produce, now that I can afford it) and taking trips--I travel outside the country at least once per year. No single budget will work for every person and for some people, living as I do (small apartment, no car) would feel like deprivation, but the international travel wouldn't be important to them at all.

Honestly, I don't feel deprived, though. I have pretty much everything I want and am able to give to charity and help out friends/family occasionally. If I spent more than 50%--okay, let's say, more than 60-70%--of my take home pay, it would be spent on things I didn't really want that much or that weren't that important to me--wasted, basically.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I see alot of comments about home ownership and such. I don't know why, but I have been feeling like home-ownership may not be for me. I don't think I like the idea of being responsible for repairs/maintenance or being tied down to one place for a long period of time.

I didn't buy my fist home (condo) until I was in my mid-40's -- and while it will probably turn out OK for me financially, I wouldn't do it again. It was something I felt I should do for financial reasons, but I really hate the burdens of ownership and maintenance. That's why I bought a condo -- some, but not all, of the maintenance is taken care of by the association. I also hate the feeling of being tied down. If something happened to my job, it would be a lot harder to move to a different city for a good job offer.

Financially, I could have done as well by simply investing the extra cost of ownership into a moderate-risk, well-diversified, portfolio. If you have the discipline to give yourself the "extra savings" (in addition to the normal retirement savings), you could probably end up with the same amount of money that I will get when I finally sell my condo when I retire. At that time, I will be moving into a retirement community that is rental, not ownership.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Home ownership definitely isn't for everyone.

We have been very fortunate to have made significant profits on our homes when we sold them. These profits have far outweighed the negatives associated with home ownership. But the vagaries of the real estate market can result in the opposite outcome. It all just depends on timing, location, and various other factors.

Even under the best of circumstances, home ownership can be a royal pain.

[Overland1, RN]

For each person, there is probably a reasonable balance that can be achieved... each of us can (and likely should) figure that out for ourselves. Sure, most of us like nice stuff (cars, houses, motorcycles , geek stuff, clothing, etc.), but there is most likely a point at which it goes beyond reasonable. As we become older (wiser?), we realize that having as much stuff as we used to have is probably not very important, so we "downsize" to some extent.

I recall having to clear out my mother's house a while back. She was truly a product of 'depression era thinking', having grown up during that time. "Never throw away items that you may need someday," she would say as she lived a financially moderate lifestyle. I enjoy a nice vehicle and a nice motorcycle - I won't even get into the geek stuff I am into - but there are those who show a bit of sneering resentment when they see either. Comments such as, "must be nice!" are answered with a simple, "yes" and a smile.

Someday, I will "downsize" a bit more.