I think most of us on this frugal journey have solid reasons behind The Big Choice--to scale down our consumerism and spending in ways that matter to us individually. Whether you want to live lighter on the earth, you've lost your job and had to cut expenses, or you just think it's a fun challenge to save extra money, there was probably a specific reason (or a few) you started making more frugal choices in your life. A few months after J and I got married, we racked up about $7,000 in medical debt due to some pretty crappy insurance. More would be added before the first year was over. So we needed to slash expenses and get those bills paid off ahead of schedule. I started reading frugality blogs and looked into couponing. I had always been raised to be pretty frugal--there were times when I was a kid that we didn't even have grocery money--but I learned there was a whole other world out there. I started putting it all together for myself, and I'm still figuring out my own personal brand of frugality. I think I'll always be figuring it out.
But what isn't talked about as much is: Was there a moment when you realized all this frugality was worth it? Did you get caught up on your payments? Were you able to pay cash for a big-ticket item you really wanted? When did you know you never wanted to go back?
For me, that moment was a couple of summers ago when I was able to buy third-row tickets for J, my mom, and me to see Cats. My mom and I had always wanted to see the musical, and it was a thrill to be so close to the show. A few weeks later, she was poking fun at some of my frugal ways (like reusing baggies), and I reminded her that little things like that were what allowed me to spend the extra money on tickets for us to see Cats, with awesome seats to boot. I think it finally dawned on her that I hadn't turned into a cheapskate--I just wanted to spend money on the things that mattered rather than those that weren't really all that important to me.
Did you have an "aha" moment? When did it all become worth it to you?
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7 comments:
My "aha" moment was just recently. I quit my job (because I hated the 1 hour one way commute) and soon realized that there is nothing available in our area. I sat down to figure up a budget for our new single income lifestyle and realized we would only have to sacrifice in one category...date money. Which is easily sacrificed as there are so many great ways to have a free/cheap date in the summer anyways. It was at that moment that I knew I had to be doing something right. Thanks for a great post!
mine was the moment I signed my student loan agreement to fund my graduate school. I was on scholarship for undergrad so the whole student loan process was new it me. Suddenly with the signature of a pen I was 16,000 in debt, and it felt like a huge weight on my shoulders. I chose to pay interest while in school, I worked 3 different jobs all that paid squat, and finished a semester early so that I would not have to take out any more money.
I managed to pay about 3,000 off while I was in school and I lived so cheap. For 1.5 years I bought nothing but groceries. Every cent I had went to paying off that debt.
Finally 2 years out of school I paid it off---4 years ahead of schedule. Now I never never never want to be in debt again.
My aha moment was realizing after paying of medical debts for close to a year, I could finally qualify for a car loan by myself when my previous car died. Granted, my apr for the car loan is not something I am proud of, but I'm glad to say that they report to experian every month and every month I pay extra so my apr gets dropped lower and lower. I probably wouldn't finance a car again, but I want to prove to myself I can do it. And I have been.
MoneySavinDiva, I hope you are enjoying your lifestyle change. Long commutes are so tough--I'm glad you worked out a way to leave that behind.
Live Simply, congrats on paying that debt off so quickly! I hope to get a huge chunk of our student loan debt paid off in 2010.
Serendipity, good luck with your car!
Great question! My moment was when I was so broke and scared that when a girlfriend mailed me a $20, I was so thankful . . . and angry to be in that situation. I swore I'd never be that scared again.
I was over $275,000 in debt!
Since that moments, I've worked no fewer than 2 jobs at a time, budgeted and swore off debt. My last 2 debt obligations are a $15k car loan and $3,302 on my final credit card.
It's a HUGE relief!
Blessings to us all for making these choices in our lives!
I think my best "aha" moment isn't so much one thing in particular, but the knowledge that we can handel just about anything that comes our way. Since we started our debt payoff, there have been lots of bumps in the road, but we were able to take them in stride instead of freaking out if a car needed to be fixed or an unexpected bill came up. THAT makes it all worth it to me.
And I LOVE this line "I just wanted to spend money on the things that mattered rather than those that weren't really all that important to me." That sums it all up.
YMG, congrats on such a big accomplishment! I know you still have some to go, but I'm amazed at how far you've come already.
JvW, isn't it great to not feel panicky all the time? Glad you were able to handle something unexpected!
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