We are in the middle. We are frugal by choice as we don't see any reason not to be...but we do have a large amount of debt that needs to be tended too and frankly we can go without the deli meats and cheeses until our debt is paid down. We will continue to be frugal when our big debts are gone too.

It's the best way to live our life as a family..in our eyes. If you're not frugal what will happen when the economy continues to sink as it's begun. I think being frugal only prepares us for what's to come.

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Happily married to my geek
Proud homeschooling, cloth diaperin, attached parenting, slinging, simplier, breastfeedin, sewing mama mades, christian and funky mama

I am frugal to make ends meet. We are also frugal so we can do things for our children that I wasn't able to do when I was growing up like dance, soccer, gymnastics, basketball, etc. All my frugal tips are things I want my girls to learn and use when they grow up and move away.

I used to be frugal by absolute necessity. Now, I'm careful but we have more wiggle room than I did when I was single. As a family, we choose to spend our money wisely, though, so that I can be a stay-at-home-mom.

When my DH and I were first married it was frugal by necessity, but throughtout the years it has become frugal by choice.

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We're frugal out of necessity. We've been living a frugal life for 8 yrs now. It has made a difference for us and makes us feel more in control.

Choice. Actually, the fact that it *is* a choice seems to have enabled me to do it better. When I should have been frugal out of necessity, in the past, I just used credit cards instead! Lesson learned.

I don't know if it would be accurate to say I'm frugal, though--although a lot of people I know say that about me, so maybe it's relative. It's more that I'm trying to be smart and not carelessly wasteful, whether of our financial resources or any other kind of resources (mine, the family's, other people's, the world's). As an ideal, not as something I actually succeed at all the time.

I don't know how not to be frugal. However, when we were a "2 full-time working income household" we did have cable and were more prone to splurges here and there. Now with me only working "VERY" part time, we are even more frugal but it comes pretty naturally to us. Could we spend more on things? Probably, but that would also mean that we wouldn't be saving for our next vehicle purchase or able to put on the new deck that we will be starting on in the next couple of weeks.

We're frugal by choice. Its a decision we needed to make, for the future of the kids.

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You must be the change you want to see in the world ~ Gandhi

Well for me I would say it's both, at first it was out of necessity, now there are some things that I do by choice.

We are frugal by choice, and it has become such a habit that we don't really notice when there are 'necessary' times.

This way of life allows me to be home with the girls and still have enough money for their activities (dance, sports, farm animals, etc).

DH has a great job, but doesn't get paid for any time off. His dad has just been sent home with Hospice care so DH has been taking a lot of time off of work to spend with his family. Money is tight right now, and if we weren't already living a frugal lifestyle, we'd definitely be learning fast. As it is, we are barely feeling it...and only feeling it because of the extra running/gas cost we've been doing for the visiting.

I enjoy being frugal and people do look at me funny, but they get over it. LOL

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