Comments on: Needs vs Wants

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:38:08 +0000

Thanks so much for your blog. About 1.5 years ago – I gave up the most expensive thing in our lives: my (now ex) husband.

I had been a stay at home mom, working at his office when needed, and going to school full time. This was my way of life for the better part of 10 years.

Once he left & the divorce proceedings began – I honestly was in for a shock. My ex made roughly 75k yearly, and we were always in the red. (I had no knowledge or control of his monies).

NOW I am managing the same home, same two great kiddos, my very first car (used), and the same pets. Not only do we get by just fine, but I have found that I do not financially NEED an entire weeks worth of pay. Oh, and I’m making under $10/hr.

Within the next year, my car will be completely paid in full – on a 5 year loan, all construction on the house will be complete, and the house will be ready to put on the market. There are times that I am astounded at what I’ve accomplished since he has been gone.

(just fyi – he ate out at drive thrus, etc 3+ times a day. When we divorced, his nearly $900+ fast-food budget was heavily discussed in court, as he balked at the amount of child support that was ordered)

At any rate – WOW. Thanks for such an awesome read. Oh – and trying your beef stroganoff recipe tonight. Thank you, Google, for leading me to such a wonderful resource when I searched “beef stroganoff without mushrooms”!

By: Crafty Mama

Crafty Mama — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:18:12 +0000

Great post! I know Catholic Charities gives away clothing, so that’s another place to get it.

By: kar

kar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:58:10 +0000

I’ve posted on my blog about economizing overseas. http://www.building68.blogspot.com

By: The Mommys Place

The Mommys Place — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:52:37 +0000

Our family finally was able to get a pay for the minutes you use phone, bye bye to contracts. We have cut down on Netflix and only watch movies on TV, plenty of programs to watch for free.

We have reduced our expenses and are continuing to tweak it and working our way to financial peace.

I really enjoyed this post.

By: TiJa

TiJa — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:57:07 +0000

We haven’t had a cell phone since 2005 and people think we are nuts! We plan on getting a prepaid one soon for emergencies. We only have one car and thankfully, it is paid for. We don’t eat out, don’t give fancy parties for our two young children. I do my own hair, pedicures and facials (until 8 years ago, I spent thousands of dollars per year on such treatments). We only have one credit card with a balance (it will be paid off in a couple of months). We are getting ready to buy our first home…2 years ago I wanted the mc mansion, now I am so excited to find something under 2000 sq.ft. for our family of four!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:27:55 +0000

Hi there. We live in a big house where taxes, utilities etc. are expensive. Unfortunatly with the market in our area, we can’t sell. We’re working to cut in other areas.
We have two vehicles however since my husband and I both go to separate churches, if I don’t have my van – we don’t go to church. We could go down to one vehicle if it weren’t for that.
Thanks for this post. I’ll be re-reading it and seeing what other areas we can cut back in to try and save more!

By: momstheword

momstheword — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:36:40 +0000

We pay $20 every three months for two cell phones. We don’t use them for fun, just emergencies or “Where are you?” type things.

We used dialup internet until recently when we got highspeed because of our son’s college homework. We gave up the newspaper and some other things to pay for it.

We went with only basic cable until my mom moved in and offered to pay for it as she wanted it.

We live without vacations until we can save up for one (it takes about four years). We usually eat out once a week (after church) and spend under $20 for the four of us. We’re currently trying to eat out less.

We won’t replace anything until it’s broken, we don’t do upgrades (like t.v., fridges, cars etc.). We maintain them but don’t upgrade them if they’re still working.

If there is something we want to buy (like a dvd) we’ll look on ebay or wait for a sale. We don’t buy lots of clothes, we don’t eat out at expensive places, we don’t buy the latest expensive electronic “toy.”

We do without some things so that we can have other things (like a vacation every few years).

By: Hannah

Hannah — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:33:39 +0000

Great post! We have one vehicle (which we paid cash for), we live in a small home, we rarely eat out, and we have a budget that we are careful to stick with. Doing these things allows me to stay home with our kids, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

By: Kelli

Kelli — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:58:03 +0000

We cut back on cable and internet to the tune of about $60 a month. We don’t get some channels anymore but honestly I don’t miss it. And I don’t even notice the lower internet speed.

Dinners out too. A lot of it is because of the new little one showing up, but we were goign out 2 times a week. That is just silly, and not too great for the stomach.

By: MB

MB — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:35:29 +0000

We are similar to many here in the way we live/shop…finding bargains, budgeting grocery shopping, prepay cell phones, limit eating out, no gym membership (we walk and rollerblade and do home dvd exercising), etc.

I feel like we are always defending our frugal ways to friends who not only make more money than we do, but who also live month to month on a strict budget. We pay ourselves first and live on the rest. We are blessed that my husband makes decent money, but we still make FAR less than some friends who make over six figures, yet manage to spend more than they make every month! It’s crazy. We have family in Australia that we travel every year to see, so we often just use that as our fall back excuse of why we are frugal and need to save money. Truth is, we would still be more frugal than most anyway. We are on a quest for financial freedom and no flat screen tv, gym membership (when we have a very walkable neighborhood), fancy iphone, or new car is going to feel better than that!