Definition of Frugal

Mike F said:
Come to Adelaide and try our water then :eek:. It is pretty much essential to have a filter taps on your sink. 10L casks of water are very big sellers here. We always notice when we are interstate how much smaller the water section is in the supermarket than in SA
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Is it as bad as Alice Springs unfiltered "not for drinking" bore water? That's one mistake I won't be making again!
 
L.AAussie said:
I never used to either, and I reckon it's cost me a million.
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I think we're ooming from two different directions LAA. You seem to be focused on CG - at this point of my investing life, I'm focusing on income. What I mean is I know how much income I need and am putting in place strategies that will allow me to get to that income in the shortest possible time. The CG will come later. As I stated in another thread recently, time is what is vitally important to me, much more than 'net worth'. Someone else can have my bragging rights, I don't want them.

But at the same time, I don't have:

- a wife
- kids

So it's that much easier for me to get to where I want to be at a relatively speedy pace.

Mark
 
natmarie73 said:
Is it as bad as Alice Springs unfiltered "not for drinking" bore water? That's one mistake I won't be making again!
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Hi Nat,

I haven't been to Adelaide in about ten years, but I remember the tap water being absolutely putrid. I would never ever consider drinking tap water there, not in a million years. I also rermember drinking one West End beer when I was there once. Oh good lord.... it's like drinking liquid sewrage, it really was that bad. Absolutely bloody awful. I wonder if it had anything to do with the water?

But Coopers is from S.A. and is the greatest beer ever, so who knows.

Mark
 
Piston Broke said:
There's no need to be frugal, just dont spend money on:

Alcohol
Cigarettes
Drugs
Lotteries
Casino/Gambling
Fast Food
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I don't spend money on any of that except fast food but sometimes it can work out cheaper than groceries.

Can't go without
-broadband
-mobile phone but it's so cheap nowadays that you don't need to use home phone.
- travelling
- clothes shopping and beauty

One of the definitions of frugal to me are people that buy the best for themselves but never pay for anything with friends or family. Being Chinese, spending on the family is a big deal but at every dinner, when it's time for the bill, they will just sit there quietly or pretend they're busy. They're calculative, they will always offer to pay only if the bill is relatively cheap i.e YumCha >$100 not seafood banquets <$150.

Being frugal is a good thing but we see that it's important to be generous to family and good friends and especially to your husband/wife. like a $150 bunch of flowers...some people think it's a waste of money but it depends on the sentimental value and occasion. It's not a big price to pay to see a your wife's happy face celebrating 6 yrs of marriage etc Should also be generous to your parents whne you consider how much they spent raising you and how much they love you. Even if your parents are rich, small gifts every now and then just to make them happy.

also, we like to be generous/bless others because our lives have been so blesesd and fortunate.
 
I'm living on 10k\yr fairly comfortably. Living with a heap of mates helps with bills. Not being a drinker, smoker, drug addict, having no girlfriend and working so much you have no time to spend your money helps also lol.
 
thrashoholic said:
I think we're ooming from two different directions LAA. You seem to be focused on CG - at this point of my investing life, I'm focusing on income. What I mean is I know how much income I need and am putting in place strategies that will allow me to get to that income in the shortest possible time. The CG will come later. As I stated in another thread recently, time is what is vitally important to me, much more than 'net worth'. Someone else can have my bragging rights, I don't want them.

But at the same time, I don't have:

- a wife
- kids

So it's that much easier for me to get to where I want to be at a relatively speedy pace.

Mark
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Thrash,

I'm a cashflow investor first, CG second.

But you normally need to have both to propel the progress quickly I believe.

Not much good getting a few hundred gees in CG if it's costing you 100 gees to hold the investment until it gets there.

Nett worth is one of the measuring tools of the progress - but I'm with you on the cashflow as a means to get out of the rat race faster.
 
investor_eddie said:
I'm living on 10k\yr fairly comfortably. Living with a heap of mates helps with bills. Not being a drinker, smoker, drug addict, having no girlfriend and working so much you have no time to spend your money helps also lol.
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Ed, that's taking things too far!

At least become a drunk, otherwise we'll start to wonder about you.:D
 
Well done with what? If he's really living on 10K a year, then he's got no life. No socialising except when friends come to visit, no going out, no entertainment (unless his friends are paying for it, which is what I suspect is happening here). Personally, this guy sounds to me like a leech. That's not something I would be proud of or be congratulating.

Mark
 
willair said:
Just have to ask Winston,with a list like this in hard times what is the most important to you..willair..
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Hi Will.....I made that list up after listening to the callbacks on Radio National.
I did a lot of backpacking when younger and was brought up a frugal.
I can and have lived extremely frugally.
However, I agree with Xenia that one has to be careful not to chop off their nose to spite their face. Spending money can build skills and save money later.

In consideration of the above, I'd probably do the following:
mobile phones - prepaid
broadband maybe or maybe not
buying books tend not to buy these days.....library and internet is better
eating any prepackaged food (commercial biscuits and breakfast cereal, tv dinners, orange juice) buy very little packaged food. eat mainly vege, fruit, meats, starches
eating takeaway rarely....have cut back on restaurants moreso because many of them don't deliver nutritionally balanced menus.
buying coffee out enjoy it a couple of times a week, but would probably can it if I was desperate
having someone sleeping in every bedroom. would try to achieve this....especially Swedish female uni students
more than one car per adult couple....would aim for one car.
recreation....picnics, walk, cycle, barbies, calisthenics in the park
dvd's...occasionally but very selective
cinema...rarely...too many people with poor etiquette in cinemas these days (constantly eating and getting up and talking)
hobbies....sure, especially if it saves outsourcing something...
sport.....see recreation....for kids, yeah sure. Sport helps them socialize properly and learn how to do things in team environments.
exercise (gyms)...see above
craft....same as hobbies
clothes....fewer better quality classic garments well cared for.
household help.....depends on what is done with the time saved.
automatic car washers....same...
etc

So like Xenia, I agree there's benefits to outsourcing stuff if you can spend the time more productively.
 
WinstonWolfe said:
cinema...rarely...too many people with poor etiquette in cinemas these days (constantly eating and getting up and talking)
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I hear ya Winston. I wanna get up and punch people in the face in the cinema when they eat/talk/disrupt people around them. I once had the idea that if I owned a cinema, I'd have sessions where no food would be allowed. It wouldn't stop the knobs from talking, but it'd be something. You're hungry? Then eat before you go to the movies, you moron.

Mark
 
thrashoholic said:
Well done with what? If he's really living on 10K a year, then he's got no life. No socialising except when friends come to visit, no going out, no entertainment (unless his friends are paying for it, which is what I suspect is happening here). Personally, this guy sounds to me like a leech. That's not something I would be proud of or be congratulating.

Mark
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No need for assumptions mate. I still go out with friends and family at least once a week and never borrow money off either (it's usually the other way around). You don't need to spend a lot of money to socialize or have fun.
 
natmarie73 said:
You've obviously never tasted Brisbane water then. Until we got our water purifier I bought a 12 litre cask of purified water simply because I like to drink water - not chlorine, flouride and a host of other toxic chemicals the govmint thinks I need in my system.:mad:
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Sadly Nat, I have to say I have and agree....HOWEVER in comparison to many other states (ncluding my own) as Thrashoholic has rightly pointed out, it's fantastic!! :eek:

But if the need arose, and it is a simple case of taking a single slurp just till you get home to your much preferred water purified nectar, I can't see the harm. And besides, I don't buy all that hype; there are both good and bad elements of what goes into our beloved/loathed drinking water!! ;)
 
In reading this thread it seems obvious that ones opinion on of frugalnass(?) comes down to ones own habits..... Anyone who spends a lot less doesn't have a life, and anyone who spends a lot more obviously wastes heaps! Of course I've got the perfect balance - where everyone should be ;)
 
thrashoholic said:
Just another example of the extreme tightarse-ed-ness (look at that, I just made up a word!) of a number of the members of the forum. Personally, I prefer to focus on how to make thousands rather than worry about the loose change in my pocket.

Mark
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Mate, I retired in my 30's!!!

I make more money from my passive income than I ever did breaking my back (not literally of course) working in any PAYE J-O-B, and trust me when I tell you, I rarely hesitate in partaking of the finer things that money can buy.

I use a mobile phone, order the odd take away meal (if I'm rushing about), dine out in some of the city's top restaurants, buy box seats at shows/ sporting events, buy designer clothes/shoes, and stay in luxury 5 star accommodations in some of the world's top destinations, but just because I can or do, doesn't mean I SHOULD.

Just because I can afford a $2 bottle of water, doesn't mean I think I should or that it's the right/best choice.

But then that's the key isn't it.........CHOICE!!! ;)

I may not agree with (or even understand) those who do choose to spend the $2, but (at the end of the day) I respect their choice to do what makes them happy!!! :)
 
Hiya Mono

There is a reason why the current generation MAY outlive the last, food and water may be a couple...........u wont see me drinking tap water more than 20 % of the time
ta
rolf
 
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