Do other people's bills.......

[FarmerChick]

I have this attitude also. I don't care what someone does with their money...but when my neighbor volunteered her costs, it did blow me away

I thought everyone was more like me trying to lower their bills, not hang with such high ones

 

[moolie]

I have this attitude also. I don't care what someone does with their money...but when my neighbor volunteered her costs, it did blow me away

I thought everyone was more like me trying to lower their bills, not hang with such high ones

A lot of people don't know it's possible to reduce their costs and still maintain the lifestyle "to which they've become accustomed" or just plain want. So many people don't realize that they can negotiate for a better interest rate on credit cards for instance, or shop around for the best rate on a mobile phone plan etc. They just go with the first thing they find. And they replace things like iPhones or tvs that simply just don't need replacing, just because there is something newer out there.

My parents taught me early on to shop around and ask questions. Shopping for school clothes took way longer for us than for others, because we really looked for the best deal. We lived in an isolated small island town where things were more expensive so we only shopped during trips to the larger city near my grandparents. We walked the mall and main street until we found the best deal on a new winter coat, pair of shoes or jeans etc. I didn't know anyone else who did that.

But despite the fact that we were not well-off, the few things we had were of good quality and often bought on sale for a fraction of the original price. It takes more planning ahead, and more time than just picking the first thing that comes along, but it's always been worth it.

As a poor university student living on my own and working two jobs to pay for school, I found those early lessons very valuable. I lived within and often under my means, a bit out of necessity but also in order to save for that rainy day.

We still try to live under our means, and find that our kids are surprisingly not materialistic surrounded by some very well-to-do friends at school. They are content, happy with what they have and it's difficult to get a Christmas list out of either of them. They don't have any expensive electronics, designer clothing, or other toys--and their bedrooms are completely furnished (very nicely) with second-hand furniture (as is the rest of our home). They don't care that they eat home-made food or have to pack their own lunches for school. And they don't see value in throwing good money away on transitory things. I am so proud of them, and glad they've turned out so sensible

 

[FarmerChick]

that is true moolie. not everyone handles finances the same ever.


yea I am so glad my parents taught us financial responsibility. It is so important truely!

 

[moolie]

I think financial responsibility, and indeed all personal responsibility, is the key to society. Particularly faced with the issues the world faces today.

 

[k15n1]

Sometimes no matter how much you budget and plan, extra expenses always pop up. Winter brings me an extra $200 a month on the electricity bill to run the water tank heaters for the livestock and I just found out my county is doubling vehicle registration prices. Oh, and insurance went up again last month. Seems I'll always be paying someone no matter how 'self sufficient' I am.

We budget for increases in the cost of utilities. And the budget includes a misc. category for the expenses that don't fit anwhere else. Makes it a lot easier to stick to the budget, actually.

 

[me&thegals]

We still try to live under our means, and find that our kids are surprisingly not materialistic surrounded by some very well-to-do friends at school. They are content, happy with what they have and it's difficult to get a Christmas list out of either of them. They don't have any expensive electronics, designer clothing, or other toys--and their bedrooms are completely furnished (very nicely) with second-hand furniture (as is the rest of our home). They don't care that they eat home-made food or have to pack their own lunches for school. And they don't see value in throwing good money away on transitory things. I am so proud of them, and glad they've turned out so sensible

Goodness, this is JUST like our kids! They LOVE their secondhand clothes. DS definitely has the possibility of wanting things that matter to him--and that's okay--but overall they really "get" it why we are the way we are financially.

They're old enough (9 and 11) to understand that some of their friends and schoolmates spend a lot more money but are often in massive debt.

Just talked with DS again yesterday about why a nice new bow (for hunting) will need to be a gift from ALL the family rather than a "just because" for him.
He has friends, and many of them, who have 100s and 100s of dollars in electronics, hunting equipment and more. Sometimes he feels badly he doesn't, but
mostly he really understands. DD simply doesn't want much besides gum and candy It's a HUGE help (I believe) to not have a TV. I throw out all the newspaper
ads just because I use the newspaper for mulch in the garden and don't want the glossies out there--so the kids really don't have many places to see what
they're missing.

So totally agree about teaching kids to be responsible--not only through example but real life. Our kids have the opportunity to earn $100s per summer in our
CSA operation. We let them spend pretty much how they want. The more irresponsible they are, the faster they can learn the lessons. DS just spent $20 on CO2
cartridges that he used within a week. Ouch! But how else will he learn how quickly hard-earned money can be wasted?

 

[moolie]

So glad it's not just us

Our girls are 14 and 15, and we were totally straight up with them when hubs was out of work, and since regarding our remaining debt from that time.

We told them last Christmas, and again this year, that Santa wants an honest Christmas list (they know we're Santa) but that some things may come as an IOU rather than the actual item. They totally understand saving for things.

 

[Leta]

Oh, man! YES on the TV thing.

When DH and I got married, DSS was 5. We moved into an apartment that had free cable. We didn't even notice this until we had lived there for six weeks, when we went to hook up our new computer to the internet and realized that there was an existing connection. Heh.

The ILs noticed that we bought a computer rather than a TV, and bought us a TV for Christmas. So we went from having no TV at all to having cable.

DSS's mom, to her extreme credit, had a TV, but no cable/satellite, and they didn't get OTA channels, either. It was just a DVD monitor, really.

So when DSS came to our house, it was like NICK! CARTOON NETWORK! Wha-hoo! What I noticed right away was that the shows were mostly okay, it was the *ads* that were atrocious. They were all for crappy toys and junk food. It was sad.

When we moved, we resolved to never have cable or satellite again, even if it was free. And we didn't. We had a TV, but noticed that, more and more frequently, we were all huddled around the laptop to watch things. So last year, we spent $60 (or $70?) and bought a Roku, a device which streams internet content to the TV.

We went ahead and ponied up $8/mo for Netflix, and another $8/mo for Hulu+ (you can watch regular Hulu for free on a computer, but can only get Hulu+ on Roku), but we only have them for the six months of the year that the weather is cold, so our net expense is $96/yr. The nice thing about this system is that Netflix has NO ads and Hulu+ has very few, and even the ads that are during the cartoons are ads for things like cars and non-profit agencies. When my kids go to their grandparents and see TV with commercials, it has a really different effect on them. The "I wannas" increase by a factor of 10. They are too little, I think, to realize what ads really are (they are 5 and 2).

I got a Target card for the 5% off, so they sent me toy catalogs. Their toys suck. It's the same plastic junk advertised on Nickelodeon. Those toys would last about half and hour with my two rugrats. But man, my kids WANTED THAT STUFF in that GLOSSY BOOK. I had to sneak into the recycle bin.

Being able to stem the tide of advertising really makes a difference.