Minimalism / frugality vs impulse spending / buying

We have two sedans in good condition, mine has 200k on it good for at least a couple years. Also my TJ and a pickup for hauling hay and lumber, etc. and I have a motorcycle. A coworker is selling a really nice sedan for a good price and well cared for. Knowing the history of a vehicle is a huge plus for me and this car would be a great replacement for mine. I thought about it for a long while, going back and forth and finally decided to pass because I really don't NEED it now. As nice as it would be to have and I hate to pass it up but I'm not ready to sell my car.
 
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I used to be really good at saving--I wouldnt use my credit card unless I knew for a fact that I could pay the balance off the next month. When I picked up my TJ, there was a brief moment where I was impulse buying, and often.

Since coronavirus hit, I've really gotten back into my groove of saving and paying off unnecessary debt. I've been attacking it aggressively.
 
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Irishguy said:
I don't think it has to be an either/or kind of thing. I am generally minimalist and frugal so I can spend money on things I want when I want them. I guess i would call it: "Saving your money for things that are important to you."
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Exactly.
 
I feel like the OP read my mind here and often find myself in the same boat. I just like having something new going on at all times. Right now, I am really fighting the urge to reserve the new Bronco. I’ve always been a Jeep guy but also loved the early broncos which the new ones resemble. I think Ford really nailed it. The only thing really holding me back is we currently have 4 vehicles for 2 drivers and space would be an issue. My Jeep I’ve owned since new so it would be hard to get rid of and the others vehicles all serve a function.

The good news about a Tundra however is the likely resale value. You can probably buy a used one, have fun with it for a few years and sell it for close to what you paid. There are certainly riskier things to blow your money on. A Tacoma you can probably buy new and not lose much if you get rid of it as well. I’m probably the worst person to listen too but having a truck can be very useful. It’s not like buying a 2 seat convertible.
 
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yeah, cars are my vice..have 8 with only 4 people in the household. Luckily we always lived below our means and have 2 paid off houses. First kid just graduated college with a $12K surplus in his college fund and my Daughter now going off to college will have about $160K to go for that in her fund. I would love to ditch the monthly subscriptions as @Zorba does but the family won't live without our $241 cell phone bill, $169/mo cable bill, sat radio etc. At least I only have 1.5 years left on the last 2 car payments (3 year notes on used car). Stupidest move was buying my wife's 2016 C300 Mercedes...that one is going to cost me down the road.
 
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qslim said:
I've always led a pretty frugal life, luckily I never got the bug to spend spend spend. No debt other than a mortgage and I make enough to feed a family & still have some left over. If I determine that I need something, I just purchase it. But, those things are really few & far between.

Except for cars. Holy shit do I have a car problem. It's waned in the past few years since I got to Utah and that's strictly because I have much less space than my last few houses in FL, but man. At my last house we had two driveways - one circle drive & a regular 2 car garage on the other side with a little shop. At one point everything was full - my last count there was 6 cars, a trailer, two motorcyles & a boat. I just love them. I like finding old interesting stuff on craigslist or wherever, getting them back to running order and learning everything about them. I recreationally cruise the classifieds for cars when I'm bored because I enjoy just seeing what's out there. Over the years I've built myself up a little cash slush fund, and amazingly enough it's stayed in the black. The wife understands my problem and has never ONCE given me a hard time when I pull up in some old car that is now part of our family.

Anyway, the TJ has given me plenty of joy since I got out here in Utah, and it's also a great family mobile for getting all of us out on an adventure rather than just driving around on the streets. But I do have the itch again, and I'm currently looking for a Mini Cooper (remember I said I'm short on space these days? lol).
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I think we're related... :unsure:
 
cliffish said:
...but the family won't live without our $241 cell phone bill, $169/mo cable bill, sat radio etc.
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Yowza! The best approach is to not even get started with this stuff - all it does is get more expensive as time goes on - like crack cocaine! I only have two subscriptions, my $15 cell phone, and one for that oh-so-affordable $9.99/mo for Kindle Unlimited. I do a lot of reading, and my wife does a fair amount, so the Kindle subscription is probably worth it, but it rubs me the wrong way and I'm thinking about dumping it. I'd *REALLY* like to dump the cell phone altogether, but its far cheaper than a land line is these days and more importantly, "they" did away with pay phones. I did finally turn off texting on it a few months back - I seldom used it, and I was suddenly inundated with SPAM texts! Saved myself $2.50/mo as well as some aggravation. Then I set the cell phone to only ring through if someone is in my address book - too many SPAMmers.
 
I've lived in the same 864 sq. ft. house (built in 1910) since 1996. My truck I've owned since 1998. I don't care about the techno toys that seem to be all the rage these days. But my weakness is definitely of the automotive kind. Cars. More precisely, project cars. Cars that "someone has to save". Cars where I've been accused of interrupting the natural cycle of things by not allowing them to hit the wrecking yard, or to naturally return to the earth in the form of rust. You know...like $750 TJs! I'm currently down to eleven vehicles, so I'm doing better.

The other thing I allow myself is tools. If I need it, I buy it. If I want it, I buy it. If someone wants to get me something for Christmas, tools will do just fine. I have 60 screwdrivers in one drawer, and 23 sets of feeler gauges. Need I say more? :)
 
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Yea, I could easily go nuts over various cars and other machinery. I'd love to have an old Cat RD-6 bulldozer for instance. As it is, between my dancing and old sewing machine collection - and now a Jeep - my time is pretty well accounted for. Oh, and I also make and sell bustle pillows and sistra (sistrums) just in case I actually had some spare time! Another bottomless pit I could easily fall into would be steam engines, I've managed to stay out of that one thus far...
 
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Zorba said:
Just like being a Belly Dancer pretty much forces you to be a sewer
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Okay, my friend, you kinda lost me on that one. What do you mean? Or is a...Oh, wait!!! As-in sewing! Hahahaha!!! No kidding, @Zorba, I read it as "sewer", like having something to do with sewage! It wasn't until I was typing out a response that I realized what you meant! God, I feel like an idiot!!! :ROFLMAO:
 
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Squatch said:
Okay, my friend, you kinda lost me on that one. What do you mean? Or is a...Oh, wait!!! As-in sewing! Hahahaha!!! No kidding, @Zorba, I read it as "sewer", like having something to do with sewage! It wasn't until I was typing out a response that I realized what you meant! God, I feel like an idiot!!! :ROFLMAO:
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Snort! I wasn't quite sure what to put for a "male who operates a sewing machine" as seamstress is obviously gendered. But yea, I bought a sewing machine in self defense just to be able to make minor repairs to costumes. I'm certainly not the Goddess's gift to sewing, but that segued into both costume making as well as vintage sewing machine collecting. Me and my big mouth - now my troupe leader has hinted that it wouldn't be a bad thing if I made mermaid skirts for the entire troupe. Uh, but I've never made mermaid skirts - just the big A-line "Gypsy" variety.
 
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I like to think I'm fairly frugal on everything besides the TJ, but I know I'm not. I'm in a pretty good position as a 21 year old. No debt whatsoever and my retirement accounts are already growing, but I'm already looking at liquidating a lot of my investments and spending a significant amount of my savings on a diesel truck 😀. I was in the right place at the right time and was able to buy in to a good amount near the bottom of the recent corona virus crash. And now I'm going to fork it all over for a truck I honestly don't need that much.

You don't take money to the grave when you die. As someone with 40+ years to retirement, I see spending money and enjoying it as a better plan than dying with a huge savings account. To me, it is a balance between enjoying your life and creating a bulletproof financial situation.
 
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My wife and I were raised by depression parents and learned that the most important thing in your life is independence from the systems. With all but a couple dozen or so paychecks we've "paid ourselves first" in that we save at least 15% off the top. Over the last 32 years of my career that's worked well for us. We don't live anywhere near our means and don't owe anyone a cent.

This day and age that's counter intuitive in the "gotta have it now" world we live in. If people don't have it they want to find the ones who do and take if from them either directly or through government intermediaries.
 
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jodomcfrodo said:
I like to think I'm fairly frugal on everything besides the TJ, but I know I'm not. I'm in a pretty good position as a 21 year old. No debt whatsoever and my retirement accounts are already growing, but I'm already looking at liquidating a lot of my investments and spending a significant amount of my savings on a diesel truck 😀. I was in the right place at the right time and was able to buy in to a good amount near the bottom of the recent corona virus crash. And now I'm going to fork it all over for a truck I honestly don't need that much.

You don't take money to the grave when you die. As someone with 40+ years to retirement, I see spending money and enjoying it as a better plan than dying with a huge savings account. To me, it is a balance between enjoying your life and creating a bulletproof financial situation.
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This is very balanced - just do keep in mind that that 40 years will fly past faster than you think. My wife and I salted money away for decades so we could retire early and enjoy life. Not that we didn't before, we had an RV when we were only slightly older than you and traveled a LOT. And its been 18 years since I saw my beloved adopted "homeland" of Greece - not going to wait much longer to return! And we can afford it now because we didn't spend the money earlier. I know guys who will NEVER retire because they insist on living "high on the hog", so they're working well into their 70s!
 
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Rooscooter said:
My wife and I were raised by depression parents and learned that the most important thing in your life is independence from the systems. With all but a couple dozen or so paychecks we've "paid ourselves first" in that we save at least 15% off the top. Over the last 32 years of my career that's worked well for us. We don't live anywhere near our means and don't owe anyone a cent.

This day and age that's counter intuitive in the "gotta have it now" world we live in. If people don't have it they want to find the ones who do and take if from them either directly or through government intermediaries.
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Oh Goddess yes! Depression parents here too. 15% was a number we used for many years as well.
 

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