For me it started out as a necessity. We had not planned for me to be a SAHM so when the kids were little I HAD to be frugal, but we were still going into debt, too. Then when our income increased I still had to be frugal in order to get all that debt paid off.

Now that we have no unsecured debt I CHOOSE to be frugal so that I can save for the future and for my kids' college. I also like to know that when I do want to splurge a little I can without feeling guilty.

I grew up poor and at first as a young adult went overboard with spending. When I took on the resposibility of raising my youngest sibling I had to learn you can't just go out and blow money on a new outfit when the child needed to be fed. So I learned, made mistakes along the way and later became completely debt free save a mortgage payment. Somewhere along the way frugality became addictive. I now need to watch my spending due to having medically retired, but it truly is a rush when I get a great deal! I want to giggle when I am at the cash register and the person behind me stares in amazement as the total goes backward as the cashier rings up my stack of coupons.

I was raised by a single mother who instilled in me to save because she said that she never saw her divorce coming.

She taught me about Christmas clubs, savings accounts, CDs, coupons, clearance racks, rebates for products you already purchase and other useful advice.

She has no money invested in stocks. She only has money invested in guaranteed investments(banks that are FDIC insured and only a certain amount in each bank).

She always said to have money in different states, even if it is a deposit once a year because you may need it for an emergency and you are not tempted to spend what is so far away to get and it is basically out of sight, out of mind.

I went with combo.

Right now it's mainly a matter of having to be frugal if we want to continue to live indoors.
But we are also paying down some debt, and while we're having to do it in bite-size pieces, we have completely paid some things off and are continuing to chip away at the rest.
If there's something special that one or both of us want, that isn't in the budget, we will sometimes cut corners on other things to get it.
And quite frankly, even if we were wealthy, neither of us approves of wasting resources, including money.

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When life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!
Any time God closes one door, She always opens another, even though sometimes it's Hell in the hallway.
Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare to die. (Klingon proverb)
Don't point. You'll poke holes in the air and all the faeries will escape.