Our heroine Hetty Green, looking exceptionally sexy for the photographer.
This morning, we heard from the FruBlogger at CESIDebtSolutions.org (it stands for Consumer Education Services, Inc.), who wanted to know how we developed the saving and spending habits that are now second nature. So, doing our part to spread the gospel of financial independence and hopefully saving you the trouble of making the same mistakes others made, here’s our questionnaire, answered by Greg. Enjoy.
What’s your “frugality story?” In other words, how and why did you
become frugal?
I’d recently graduated college and was resigned to spending the next few years living in a dismal little apartment and making subsistence wages en route to eventually establishing myself. I was astounded when I saw my classmates, whom I’d assumed were as poor as I was, buying cars and houses. I suddenly realized that all the nonchalant, “discretionary” spending I’d been doing had added up in a bigger way than I’d imagined. And that maybe I should look at my bank statements once in a while.
What, if anything, tempts you to overspend, and how do you resist?
Convenience. If something’s right in front of you, and easy to take possession of, it’s hard to think of reasons not to buy it. It can take a while to master, but discipline is the only way around this. It’s the equivalent of the recovering smoker not buying the cigarettes. (Of course, those folks have it relatively easy. They only have one item they have to avoid.)
What personal finance or frugality habits were the hardest for you
to adopt and why?
Forcing myself to examine my income and my net worth regularly. I’d always deposit my paychecks without ever checking the balances. Same deal when I used an ATM. I was always scared that the actual numbers would be lower than my estimates, which would depress me for the rest of the day. Also, I reasoned that my balances would seem to grow faster if I consciously ignored them. But in the real world, the opposite happens.
Have you ever taken frugality too far? How so?
Recycling a birthday gift for an ex-girlfriend was one I’d like to have back. Then again, she dumped me a week later and I ended up with the woman of my dreams, so I guess these things have a way of balancing out.
What resources (blogs, books, websites) would you recommend to
someone who’s newly frugal?
LenPenzo.com, a financial blog by a non-financial professional whose innate common sense remains uncompromised. SmartMoney, which boasts the clarity and insight that its parent, The Wall Street Journal, is famous for. (And of course, my new book, Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense.)
