Lifestyle / Standard Of Living - Easy to expand, hard to contract

[punkin]

I guess we are a two and a three.

My husband made very good money, so we bought stuff. A couple of years ago, we started wondering what all this stuff was good for. We readjusted our priorites from having everything to enjoying the simple things. Kind of like from the latest electronic gadgets to the biggest heirloom tomato.

Lately, my husband's income has declined. So, we are being way more frugal. It's not been hard to do. What has been hard is wondering why we didn't do it sooner. Didn't have to, I guess. :/
All the "stuff" got in the way.

 

[Homesteadmom]

I guess you could say 2 & 3 for me. AFter we had our accident & were forced to live on $754/mo & only $85/mo in food stamps, we had no choice but to get very, very frugal in our ways, problem was we were'nt physically able to garden the first yr & the second because dh still had to tend it all, we went on the small scale a few tomato plants, radishes, bell peppers, green onions & a melon vine. Then we were both able to go back to work & then got our settlement so our lifestyle increased some. Then I choose to be a stay at home mom mostly but still did a little homehealth(2 early morning patients to see daily). So we had to scale back, then ds was turning 3 & wanted to send him to preschool & they offered me a job there & he could go free(part of my pay), but it was even less income for me, but we worked it out by cutting back some more on a few luxuries & I made a lot of casseroles to put in the freezer every Sat. Then I had to have surgery on my foot again & Dr., said no more work & I went on disability again & we have just been frugal ever since then, got back into a big garden & started getting animals to raise for food too. At this point all our animals serve a purpose to supply us with food in some way shape or form. The poo helps in the compost & garden from all the animals.
I grew up with a frugal mom too, dad made a decent living but between her & brother being sick most of the time & in & out of hospitals, the medical bills took a lot of it. So we lived very frugally, but my brother & I never did without anything we needed. Dad liked to hunt & fish when we lived in KS & used to supply us with a lot of food that way. Moving here hunting is not as easy here in the desert & to fish you have to drive at least 2 1/2 hrs to get to a lake. But we did have a lot of big irrigation canals when we moved here & that in return meant a lot of frogs, so we used to go frog giging a lot. Haven't had frog legs in a long time.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I don't know where I fit in- my child hood was odd by anyone's standards but of course I did not understand that until I was way older.
My father was in the military at a time when pay was pretty bad but bases were plentiful. I also moved more than most military kids ever do.
So I grew up thinking everyone belonged to a country club (officer's clubs) with swimming pools and tennis courts. But ate steak on the first day of the month and macaroni and cheese in the middle and spanish rice at the end.
Also my father would disappear for a year at a time on "missions," during which things got a whole lot tougher financially. And moving so much ate up money like a house afire. Putting up curtains at a new house every 6 months or having to store funiture because it was too expensive to move it. I remember my parents had a party where everyone drank up what ever liquor was left and broke Knickknacks on the floor because my parents couldn't afford to move the stuff in the two day's notice we got to vacate.
So I was very flexible as to life style without thinking about it- if I had, I spent and if I didn't, I conserved. I spent my life making do in one way or another in every new place. I go with the flow still except I retired and don't have the resources to waste. This will probably be true for the rest of my life.
Actually the only thing preventing adaption is willingness to do what is needed. A lot of people confuse want with need.

 

[hoosier]

It is because of me that we have a savings account, and because of my husband that we have enjoyed some luxuries.

We have always lived on less than we made, but since he was downsized earlier this month, I have gone into hyper-frugal mode. To be honest, I am still in shock. We knew it was a very real possibility and I thought I was prepared (mentally), but it still knocked me for a loop.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

My husband and I have always been quite frugal . . . him especially (I have a tendency to go thrift shopping fairly often). But we also made the decision a few years ago to downsize and buy a smaller house while simultaneously increasing the land available for gardening/animal husbandry. Since our house is so much smaller, I was really forced to decide what I really wanted to keep in the house. We won't pay for storage, so everything else has to be stored in the barn. We had to do some re-modeling before we could even really move in to our new house, so I still haven't attacked the stuff in the barn that we are just going to have to get rid of.

ANYWAY . . . I really like the forced simplicity and am doing everything I can to keep our house minimalistic. But it IS hard to do, especially when Christmas comes around (decorations, wrapping paper, gifts we didn't ask for, etc.)

 

[jackiedon]

I was thinking about this and how our parents lived. My parents and grandparents never had mortages. The area they lived in the parents past down land to the children. The married couples cut the trees on their land and took to a local sawmill then family and neighbors helped build the house. Neighbors helped each other with plowing gardens and harvest. We always borrowed a neighbors mules and plow to dig potatoes, I thought it was the neatest thing. I remember mom sending us to the neighbors to help shell peas.

Now days it's hard to find that community togetherness. Face it most people are so busy with jobs, kids activities and stuff that we don't have time to help our neighbor. I miss that community togetherness and sad my kids won't be a part of that even though I try to get them involved in helping others.

Just remembering

jackie

 

[Beekissed]

I remember those times also, Jackiedon! I miss them like anything! I try to tell my kids about those days but it just can't be told or imagined....you just had to be there!

 

[Buster]

We are frugal for a purpose.

We wanted something in particular... a home in the country on a few acres. In order to do this, we needed to become debt free and to remain that way. We have, therefore, few new things.

But I don't consider that our "standard of living" has shrunk at all. We have merely decided to forgo some things in order to accomplish others. You can live quite a satisfying life if your priorities are to have and do certain things that aren't necessarily based on a consumption-oriented lifestyle.

Besides, we enjoy the challenge.

Our next goal is to pay off the farm and save up enough to be financially independent.

 

[jackiedon]

Buster!!!!!

It's good to see you. I agree with you we go with the flow.

How's the wife and boys.

jackie

 

[Buster]

Buster!!!!!

It's good to see you. I agree with you we go with the flow.

How's the wife and boys.

jackie

Ummm... different Buster, I think. I have a wife, one boy, and two daughters, all grown.

Well, physically grown, anyway.