Being smart with money means knowing when to save and when to spend. Because if you cheap out on the wrong things, you might end up paying even more to fix the consequences.
No one learned that lesson better than these folks, whose extreme frugality came back to bite them. To avoid making the same mistakes, read their stories below and take note of what’s actually worth the splurge.
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#1
It was probably the time I was standing ankle deep in sewage in my basement trying to work my small, hardware store toilet snake. Sometimes its better to call a plumber. The really sad part? I finally did, and the plumber told me over the phone it was probably backflow due to a blockage in the city sewer and that I should call the city. I did, and the city fixed it for free.
Image credits: rounding_error
#2
I live in a remote area about 2.5 hours from the closest major city, but you can make it there solely by public transit if you time it correctly. When going to visit my family one Christmas, I decided to save some gas money and go this route to get to the airport. I was carrying one packed suitcase and a carry on, and traveled on 4 buses, a ferry, and a train to make it to the airport. Once I got to the airport, I had three flights and two layovers to look forward to before finally getting to my destination (hey, the price was right.) All in all, it came down to about 24 hours of travelling to get from one side of the US to the other. I saved MAYBE $50 or so. But looking back I’d pay the extra $50 next time to save my precious time. Woof.
Image credits: anon
#3
When I started university I had lots of money, I’d saved up when I was young, now I was getting lots in the forms of student loans and grants and whatnot. For my entire first year I was extremely frugal, rarely drinking, eating rice and vegetables every day, that sort of thing. I saved about 80% of the money that year, so much I didn’t know what to do with it.
Then a close friend of mine was knocked off her motorbike by a texting driver. The car ran over her head, and shattered her thigh bone, fortunately she was wearing a helmet but she was in a coma for about 6 weeks. This was several years ago and she’s still recovering from it now. She was 19 when she got hit. I ride too and it really made me think about how I’d had a fairly miserable first year so that I could afford a house I might never live to buy. The two years after that I spent all of my money, new computer, new motorbike (common sense be damned!), about a thousand dollars worth of safety clothing, limited edition books, three holidays, all sorts. Whenever I wanted something I bought it. Only this past year or so have I reeled it back in and started saving properly again, because I did live after all.
It’s a difficult balance. I know if I’d saved that money I’d be able to afford a nicer place to live now, but at the same time I wouldn’t own anything to put in it, and I would look back on university and remember using a s****y computer in a cold, boring room, never going anywhere. If you’re saving to the point you can’t enjoy your life you’re doing it wrong, but if you’re spending to the point where your future is uncertain, that’s also doing it wrong. Doing it right is the tricky part.
Image credits: anon
#4
When I collapsed in the mall waiting lane. Turns out eating only noodles for months isn’t enough to maintain a body. The more you know !
Image credits: petit_lama
#5
When I accidentally dropped my plate of spaghetti on the carpet one night, and instead of making another dinner and be over budget, I picked it all up and ate it while picking out pieces of hair that has snucked in.
Image credits: mhtyhr
#6
Ugh, my inlaws are frugal in puzzling ways. They will inconvenience everyone around them to save a buck, yet blow money in stupid ways. For example, they are really opposed to paying for airport parking. It’s $10 a night, not a huge sum. They’d rather I wake up at 4am to go take them to the airport, and then interrupt my toddler’s nap/sleep schedule to have me come pick them up. If my toddler is still napping and I refuse to wake him to pick him up, they would rather hang out at the airport for an hour (usually eating something overpriced) instead of taking the $15 cab ride to my house where they leave their car. Sometimes time and convenience > money.
Image credits: Mavsma
#7
One time I bought the generic brand Q-tips…Never again.
Image credits: aagusgus
#8
Bought a $30 suit from goodwill, spent 200 getting it hemmed and fitted.
It still didn’t look right. :/.
Image credits: raziphel
#9
I had to book a motel room for a wedding, but I noticed that as you drove further and further out of town the motels got cheaper. We figured it would be fine to go super-cheap because we’d only be coming back late and leaving early. We booked into the $25/night place, took our key and went on to the wedding without ever looking in the room. Coming back late at night and it was absolutely exactly what you’d expect from a low-budget horror movie. We spent the night sitting back to back on the vibrating (not vibrating; broken) bed staring out of the front and back windows looking for m**derers.
Image credits: plasticcastle
#10
I once learned the hard way that nobody needs a quart of homemade mayonnaise.
Image credits: anon
#11
Moved to a new city for grad school with my boyfriend, he was only able to get a s****y low paying job, and we had virtually no savings. I discovered couponing, which evolved (devolved?) into extreme couponing.
We didn’t have a car, so we’d walk for miles to get to the stores (multiple) where I could stack the best deals.
No matter how much we were carrying or how bad the weather, I never wanted to spend money on the bus, even though it was less than $2 a ride. Sometimes I would give all the groceries to my boyfriend and put him on a bus by himself, and then I would walk home.
I spent pretty much all my downtime scouring circulars, coupon websites, and sorting my coupons. What started as a fun, frugal hobby turned into an obsession, to the point where I refused to buy basic things (milk, toilet paper, scouring pads) unless I knew I was getting an unbeatable deal.
My boyfriend was wonderfully patient with me, even though he hated it, at least in part because our weekly grocery bills were only $20 to $30 for the two of us, and often less than that. But we’d have like eight tubs of cream cheese, a carton of tomato paste, two dozen paper towels, etc. in our tiny one bedroom apartment.
I didn’t care at all about nutritional value, either. Oh, and I was *that person* who would get into shouting matches with staff if the store wouldn’t accept my coupon.
I kept going even after we became financially stable. It was never so bad that I had to pinch pennies to that extent to begin with.
The last year or so, I’ve been prioritizing healthy eating, which means I’ve almost completely tapered off couponing.
I guess if I had to do it over, I’d spend an extra $20 a week and buy ingredients for nutritious, frugal meals, instead of spending so much freaking time couponing and eating cheap processed c**p for 2+ years.
Image credits: exultant_blurt
#12
My main thing is that you skimp on the daily things so you can buy experiences with it. How much does that diet coke that costs $1.50 from the vending machine actually increase your enjoyment out of life? Not much. But that $100 you saved over three months because you didn’t continually buy stupid things can be used for 2-3 days in a hotel.
I think a motto for frugal should be “experiences > stuff.” That’s the way I look at it.
Image credits: kennyminot
#13
After the fifth $1 pizza cutter.
Image credits: OhYeahThat
#14
I moved to a new place and didn’t have bowls, plates, and utensils. I had some friends who had extra and we just needed to meet up and I could pick them up. Our schedules don’t mesh and it takes a couple weeks before I can meet up with them. In the meantime I’m heating food in my pyrex measuring cup and using my measuring spoons as utensils.
Being able to eat out of a proper bowl and use a proper spoon was awesome. I should have just spent $20 and gone to Target to pick up some bowls, plates and utensils. I found out where the line crossed from being frugal to cheap was for me.
Image credits: anon
#15
When I was sewing up my ripped underwear.
Image credits: anon
#16
I’ve been saving 40-50% over the last couple of years, pretty happy with it, and I easily have enough money to do something special for my mother who is getting older (she’s always wanted to go to Italy) without really making much of a dent in my savings. So I’ve committed to traveling with her next year for a few weeks so she can do that (and paying for both of us), but I’m so used to being very careful with money that I’m feeling huge anxiety about the expenses constantly, even though I can actually afford it. I don’t know if it’s a hangover from growing up not wealthy and having to be careful or what, but I really need to learn to relax and enjoy some big things when they are worth it :/.
Image credits: kahrismatic
#17
When I skipped Christmas.
Image credits: DazzlerPlus
#18
Dog poop bags at Dollar Tree, a lot of them weren’t sealed shut at the bottom.
Image credits: retro_lady
#19
I had these moments watching my parents. Both my parents are immigrants from Latin America to the USA. They had to be frugal to survive, and I am frugal as a result of watching them save up and, in fairness, do a lot of clever and cool tricks to save money. But I also learned not to take things too far like they did at times.
When my parents moved from one house to another when I was in college, I came back home to help them move. I knew it was going to be bad, as they were semi-hoarders, but nothing could prepare me for how bad it was. My mother had a spare refrigerator she got for free somehow in the basement. I never opened the fridge much, but I did use the freezer to store fish that I would catch out fishing and give to my parents.
Anyhow, I can’t even recall all the contents of that damn basement fridge that I forced my mother to throw away. Jars and jars of jam and Miracle Whip she bought on clearance that were years past their date. Jars of old tea she didn’t want to throw away so were “saved” for later–and forgotten. The worst part I will never forget was jar after jar after jar of pickle or jalapeno juice. That’s right–old a*s brine. After my parents would finish either a jar of pickles or jalapenos, they would save the brine in jars. I asked my mother again and again why they would do this, and she either pretended not to hear me or would just tell me to shut up.
I have lots more stories, but this is the first one that popped into my head that sums up what absurd lengths my parents would go to save things and be cheap.
Oh, okay, one more one. My parents were too cheap to buy either good knives or good cutting boards to cook with. It was so hard to cook with dull knives on old, uneven wooden chopping blocks. So I bought them a nice knife sharpener and a nice chef knife after college. A few months later I noticed how worn out the sharpener was, and yet the nice chef knife had been blunted down. I figured out what was going on watching my father cook later on that day, watching him use the nice chef knife to chop through a whole chicken (bones and all) directly on a *marble* slab that I thought they were using as a place to put hot pans/pots.
I told my mother, and she said that my father did that all the time with all the knives, and then she would sharpen the knives in an idiotic, absurd cycle. I was so angry with my father I took the knife back, and to my surprise he didn’t care because he said it got dull too quickly as opposed to the ancient, clunky meat cleaver they had. That god damn cleaver. I have clear memories of them using it when I was a child all the way up until I was out of university. The handle on it actually snapped clean off while I was in high school, but rather than buy a new one, they got a friend that did some metal work to weld it back together.
When your life becomes more difficult because of how cheap you are, it’s time to re-evaluate things.
Image credits: CesarV
#20
Recently I moved and hired movers instead of moving myself. The price was so much cheaper than other companies. I found out why.
I didn’t read the fine print. I was responsible for renting a truck for them to use. They only moved the stuff.
So when they arrived I didn’t have a truck ready. I had to call around and find a place that had a truck available. Fortunately it wasn’t too hard and I found a truck quickly. It was a 20-minute drive to get there so I’m looking at close to an hour to get the truck. THEN when I get there I realized I left my wallet at home and I had to go back and get it.
Meanwhile I’m paying these guys by the hour. I ended up paying double what I would have spent if I had used a company that provided the truck.
Image credits: Otto_Correction
#21
Our dryer was making horrible screeching sounds. I researched and watched videos, figured out it was a pulley, ordered the part and we fixed it ourselves! Then at the very end my husband noted the gas line shut off valve was no longer screwed to the floor. He put a screw right through the gas line. Ended up paying $385 for the plumber to come out and repair the line
Image credits: Sufficient-Pop-4922
#22
I didn’t have a vacuum, so I bought one at a thrift store (Hoover Windtunnel 2). Turns out that nobody sells bags for them anymore, so I spent 20 minutes cleaning out the old bag while I waited for the bags I bought on ebay to show up. I neglected to buy a filter. Still smells like wet dog whenever I vacuum.
Image credits: witchyboi
#23
Buying cheap shoes. I pay for it with foot and knee pain.
Image credits: WriterWannabeRomance
#24
Probably when my wife started washing and rewashing Ziploc bags until they could no longer be used.
Image credits: 30dlo
#25
When I turned my fridge off for two weeks when I was out of town. Turns out when you turn the lower part off, the freezer turns off too. Came home to some dead flies and live maggots. Cleaned it out, and still using it despite everyone telling me to get a new fridge.
Image credits: derfmatic
#26
I called Comcast for a credit because my internet was out for a day.
Total refund: About tree fiddy.
Total time on the phone: 45 minutes.
#27
. A few years ago I used about every liquid dollar I had to buy my first place, a fixer-upper.
I thought I was going to save a ton by using the handyman from my last apartment building as my “contractor” for real work (demo, electrical, plumbing)
That bought me six more weeks of not being able to move in and $8,000 just to undo the work he did.
Young people, do not be dumb like me. Home improvements can wait until you can actually afford a licensed individual/team to do the work.
#28
Not really backfired, but got less than optimal results buying the generic chunk of Parmesan cheese. I don’t use it often, but shave it on the occasional pasta dish or salad. It took forever to use it up. When I needed a new chunk, I decided to splurge on one that was more mid-range price, and what a difference! When this is gone, I might actually buy the expensive one. I use a few cents worth of cheese each time, so it’s not really that much more money, and the taste is MUCH better.
Image credits: SmileFirstThenSpeak
#29
You need to read “die broke”
Frugality is great, but enjoying life before you die is greater still.
#30
I drink a lot of pop/soda. I buy it in 2 liter bottles because it’s the cheapest. But I live in California where I have to pay 10 cents a bottle for California Redemption Value. I collect two huge plastic bags worth of empty bottles and then take them to a recycling center to get my refund. It’s crowded, dirty, smelly, and noisy. Usually I get at least a 5 dollar bill. This past time I only got $4.75. At that moment I reevaluated my life and decided it was no longer worth my time and effort.
Image credits: cwenger
#31
While planning my trip to Korea I spent 50+ hours figuring out the cheapest combinations of flights, which ended up saving three people going $30 each. Probably wasn’t worth the time.
#32
About a month after my husband and I brought our dream home, we noticed the we had a leak. Called home warranty, they came out and it was discovered one of the pipes was plastic and a staple had gone through it. The staple rusted and fell out, leaving a hole. It was supposed to be a medium repair: cut out dry way to get to pipe, replace pipe and then repair drywall.
The guy who came out said paying in check for the call was fine, but we had to pay in cash for the actual job. Okay, no big deal. He fixed it, we paid. All was good.
Well…. That morning we are awoken by loud banging at our door. My husband jumped out of bed in a splash. There was water POURING out of our garage. It flooded the garage, our bedroom, bathroom and closet. We just moved in a month ago, so we still had a bunch of boxes of stuff in the closet. The closet is huge. It’s like a long room.
Long story short, there were tens of thousands in damages. The warranty company wasn’t going to pay at first because the guy fixed it on the side, not reporting the job to the company. But after my parents got through with them, they paid for all repairs, damage and then some.
#33
Not me, but my father in law. Bought a $600K house with cash. Didn’t want to “waste” $300 on a home inspection before closing. After closing, they found out the house was full of termites from top to bottom. Ended up having to tear down the whole house and build new on the plot.
#34
When you start thinking about homemade devices made out of coat hangars to fashion into a key to open the toilet paper dispensers to steal gas station 1 ply tp.
Image credits: lechef
#35
I am an electronics hobbyist. I’ve had some frugal successes such as building a quadcopter out of PVC (frame cost was about $0.25) but I have also wasted a *lot* of time trying to save money. Here’s some tips:
* Unless it’s an expensive through-hole part it’s not worth desoldering *unless* you’re just trying to practice desoldering. Worth it: Relays, big switches, speakers (‘cuz they’re easy), and rotary encoders.
* The only thing worth buying in bulk are passive components like resistors and capacitors and things that are so cheap it would be stupid to buy just one like buzzers (1 for $3 or 20 for $5). Everything else will sit in a drawer forever while rapidly becoming obsolete. Example: I have four laser diodes because I thought, ” why get one for a dollar when I can get five for five dollars?” Hehe
* You don’t need a ready stock of every size/kind of wire in every color. Ugh, why did I buy like 10 spools of 22awg in 10 different colors when all I really needed was red, black, and ?
* Tools are different: Why did I buy that “As seen on TV” wire stripper for $10 (which i knew would eventually break) when I could have bought the $25 one that will last forever? Get good tools that will last!
Image credits: riskable
#36
I went to Starbucks with a friend and made “free” chocolate milk from the complimentary milk / chocolate powder / sweetener at the coffee bar.
Image credits: anon
#37
Was attending a Con and decided to save money by staying at a motel a mile away instead of at the hotel the was at. Turns out the motel was on the other side of a 6 lane highway that had no pedestrian crosswalks (I don’t drive) Ended up having to sprint across said highway like a lunatic in order to get there and back.
#38
>He continued to be frugal and work until he couldnt so that his wife and 2 kids would live good lives.
then
>I don’t know the details, but I heard that his wife ended up remarrying her personal trainer not long after. I’m sure they are enjoying his hard earned money, basically none of which he enjoyed.
And *I’m* pretty sure they are using his hard earned money to raise the children he left behind. Jesus, what would you have her do? Remain single and depressed forever? NOT spend the money he left her? Did you give a single thought to what it must be like for a wife to watch her husband, the father of her two children slowly die over 3 years?
Image credits: anon
#39
I once moved out to Oregon to get away from Tennessee. I lived with my brother for a few months before I had realized I made a terrible mistake. So all the flights back were quite a bit more expensive than a bus ticket. So I get on a greyhound for four days. The difference I saved from riding the bus I ended up spending on food.
While the bus ride was hell, looking back I did enjoy it!
#40
I would say any time I’ve bought the “cheap” product thinking I was getting a good deal. Then it breaks, and you have to replace it. Buying slightly more expensive quality products that last is frugal.
#41
I know someone who got colon cancer from years of eating cheap processed foods even though she couldn’t afford a better diet
Image credits: brutalsarcastic
#42
Tried to replace iPhone battery, ended up ruining it and had to get a new phone.
#43
When I rocked up to a family gathering with bandages to the balls of my feet.
“Eet,” they said as they sat me down, “it’s time we held an intervention. You do realise hospital bills, time off work etc. will end up costing you more than a pair of runners?”
So I bought a new pair. I still have to be forced to buy new trainers every once in a while. Old habits are hard to break I guess?
#44
I’ll never drive from NJ to FL and back again to save money vs flying. I’ve done it a number of times, but at this point I’d rather just fly and be there in a few hours.
#45
Not a huge backfire but I was down bad on Valentine’s Day trying to find a place to take my gf for dinner. Spent probably 2 hours sifting through menus til I found something I could afford. When we got the check I learned that they hadn’t updated their online menu in years and dinner ended up being more expensive than over half the places I looked at.
#46
Gardening. Nothing grew and we spent more on supplies and seeds than the produce would have cost. We lost a lot of time that we would have gotten back if we just didn’t garden. My mom got a spider bite from gardening that not only cost money to treat but caused an infection and a lot of pain and suffering because the wound had to be dressed at least twice daily by another person because it was a large wound that was infected and it took weeks to fully heal.
Not to mention gardening usually involves getting way more of one crop than you will ever use.
We could have just bought the produce at the farmers market, spent less and not have had to gone through the trouble of gardening.
No more gardening. This is something to do as a hobby because you like it not to save money.
#47
I was cutting dog treats in half with chicken shears. Went to cut raw chicken one day and realised I’d blunted them on the dog treats. Not a total fail as I can use a knife for the chicken and they still cut the treats well but still, not great.
#48
I bought an umbrella from the dollar tree and it broke within 30 seconds of me opening it due to wind
#49
I bought a twin bed for myself instead of a double. I could not turn over or spread out. It was not meant to take the weight of an adult. I was so glad when I finally replaced it with a double.
Image credits: fredonia4
#50
I once avoided charging my electric car during peak hours when it was low on miles. I ran out of charge going to pick up my daughter that resulted in a larger tow charge than having charged it during peak hours. Will never make that mistake again.
#51
Buying a house that didn’t check all the boxes. I really should have stretched the budget a bit more. The timing would have been perfect (pre-covid).
Now I’m “stuck” in a house I hate with a fantastically low mortgage.
#52
Decided to build a fish tank stand instead of buying one
#53
Buying second hand pants online. Second hand dresses online? Yes sure , because the size is more forgiving. Jeans? No way. They either fit or they don’t. I keep forgetting that I need to try pants before buying. I have waster two or three pants. I could have bought a new one with that wasted money
#54
I will NEVER buy generic Nyquil. It’s a rancid, gag inducing nightmare flavor.
#55
A dedicated tutor for my child. For the last two years, my daughter Fatima used to go to a private tuition center, run by a lady (at her home) in our neighborhood to have some help with her homework and test preparations. There she sat with about twenty other children and was taught/coached by that single respective tutor.
I’d admit it bugged me for several reasons like “she has to go to someone’s home for 2 hours daily” or “how helpful this tutoring actually is”. Things like that.
But I sucked it up considering this was better than nothing.
Since Fatima moved to third grade this year, she actively started complaining that her Madam does not give proper attention towards her or other kids. She just tells them to complete their school assignments and gets busy with her house chores or even better … take a nap.
I could see it was not working anymore. So about four months ago, I visited a few schools nearby and asked around to find a female teacher who could come to my home and assist my daughter with her school assignments. I talked with dozens of them in the span of a week and fortunately found one.
Though her fee is like 5 times of what I used to pay before, I am convinced. She is well educated and adequate for the job.
She comes to my home and teaches my daughter for two hours daily. We don’t have to take our daughter to tuition center and back. Fatima can have all the attention in the world she thinks she needs. And best of all, I see improvement in her grades.
She is happy, I don’t hear complaints now.
I am one contented father.
Image credits: Neman Ashraf
#56
When you start doing anything that aligns with something you’d see on /r/Frugal_Jerk. For instance, lentil bread may be cheap, but seriously? Lentil bread?
#57
If you’re working for a paycheck, you’d better cash in, ‘cuz life’s too short to never have lived. :).
Image credits: CHODE_ERASER
#58
Yeah, I’m not much of a Bible-beater or anything, but this parable (Luke 12:16-20) hits a little too close to home.
> A rich man had some land that produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do? I don’t have space to store all my crops.” Then he said, “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll replace my barns with larger ones, and then I’ll store all my grain. And then I can finally say to myself, ‘you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!'” But God said to him, “You fool. This very night your life will be taken from you.”.
#59
My goal right now is to be financially free by 40 years old; saving 50% or more of my income is crucial for this. Happiness is not attained by buying things you don’t need, it is about having experiences with the people you love.
So what if I die earlier than I expect with a lot of money? I still would have lived a wonderful life without the hyper-consumer nonsense.
#60
I bought a container of generic Dijon mustard from Walmart.
It was the worst mustard I’ve ever had.
#61
I live in tropic climate, SEA,
my first house is heavily shaded and almost no windows, the bedroom is located at the most inner part of the house, no sunlight, it needs lots of lighting and heatpump, fan to circulate the air and cool the house, and without heatpump cooling, it felt like sauna, but I can’t smell smoke, I can’t hear anything.
I decided to built my current house with good cross ventilation lots of sunlight, problem is I can smell smoke from trash burning from 100 meters away, there are lot more dust, I can also hear music playing from 100meters away.
the electricity consumption decrease from 1800 kwh to 1000kwh a month, but at what cost?
btw the location of both house is 40meter away. the size of the house is almost equal.
#62
Bought an upright carpet cleaner. Bad idea-it has to be stored and there is never time to even vacuum, let alone wash the carpeting. Better to rent one..
#63
Books. As Mark Twain said, “the man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
Travel. From low budget road trips across the U.S. to Bora Bora and snorkeling, or car racing in Saudi Arabia, it really expands your world perspective.
Condoms.
Experiences.
Good food.
#64
The moment my boyfriend asked me if I was re-using Ziplock bags, that I had used to hold toiletries on flights, for storing baby carrots. Okay, I guess I thought it was a good idea at first! I mean, they’re perfectly clean!
#65
I got out of a cab at 4:00AM 1km from my house, to save 3-4 dollars.
I walked the rest of the way with a two inch gash on my leg, spewing out blood. Unsure as to wether I had severed an artery or anything else major.
Every step squelched as my right shoe was literally filled with blood. I received 15 stitches later that day.
At the time, I had close to $1000 dollars cash in my wallet and waited for the change from the cab driver.
I’m sure I spent in excess of $150 dollars that night on alcohol, food, friends and gambling.
It is important not to confuse being frugal, with being cheap.
#66
When I read the end of Scrooge McDuck’s youth.
You know, when he spends Christmas all alone in his fancy mansion, crying.
#67
Instead of spending an extra $50 bucks on a later flight out, I bought an earlier flight that went out at 7am. My boyfriend at the time had to take me to the airport on a Monday before work. We left his place around 5:30am. For some background information, we were long distance and I was in town visiting him, he wouldn’t have to be into the office until around 11am, even later if he chose, but he isn’t a morning person, so it was rough on him. Two weeks later he broke up with me; having to take me to the airport that morning was one of the reasons that influenced his decision.
#68
Refusing to use the heaters when the temperature is -10° and end up having swollen digits due to chilblains for the rest of winter. Didn’t have to go to the doctor (there wasn’t much to do about it anyway), but soon figured out that my fellow housemates have been living in a ‘tropical’ environment in their rooms to the point where they roam around topless.
I’m in a share house, and we spilt the rent.
TLDR: Tried to save money on heating, end up with painful chilblains; and paying for housemates ‘tropical’ getaway.
*Edit, I still don’t use the heaters (I don’t know why, but I just refuse to).
#69
I realize this somewhat goes against the spirit of this subreddit, but sometimes it’s important to remind ourselves that we should spend some of our money “guilt free” since we can’t take our savings to the grave.
My two contributions:
I had a college friend who became an investment banker. He was an early immigrant from India so he was extremely frugal throughout life. He was the rice+lentils kind of guy, camped in the airport overnight for the first AM flight out since the bus stopped running at 11pm, wore the same sh*tty shoes all the time – even though we later found out, he had been working since he was a kid and already had close to 6 figures in savings by the time he finished college.
He worked himself to death, but had amassed over 2 million in assets by his mid 30s. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with porphyria. He continued to be frugal and work until he couldnt so that his wife and 2 kids would live good lives. He died a ~3 years after diagnosis.
I don’t know the details, but I heard that his wife ended up remarrying her personal trainer not long after. I’m sure they are enjoying his hard earned money, basically none of which he enjoyed.
2) A family friend of mine is american born asian. His dad emigrated here and was the stereotypical frugal/cheap asian. He married an asian american born in the US. Unfortunately his frugality DID NOT translate to his wife, my friend, or his sister. In fact, they downright loathed him and his cheapness.
I am not sure why they hated him so much. He provided them with new clothes from the Gap, they always had enough to eat, he paid for the 3 of them to go on vacations 2x/year (he stayed to work,rarely joined them). He even bought my friend a new honda accord when he graduated high school. He paid for their college education. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t beating them or anything, yet my friend would always complain about how he didn’t have this and that.
Same story, the dad worked his rear off, wore the same crappy clothes at work (he owned a bunch of restaurants), barely spent a dime on himself. He died in a robbery from a gun shot wound, probably wearing the same crappy grease-covered jeans and khaki shirt he did for the better part of the decade before that.
My friend and his family sold all the restaurants and the strip mall since they didn’t really want to manage it (understandable, none of them knew anything about the businesses nor cared to be involved).
They went on a spending spree RIGHT AFTER, it was sick. My friend bought a condo in NYC with cash (he couldn’t stop bragging about how he bought it with his own hard earned cash…). Unfortunately, he lost his job during the .com bust, wouldn’t settle for something “beneath him,” He couldn’t keep up with the HOA fees, ended up extracting equity. He no longer owns the condo.
Sad story, the dad spent decades building his fortunes from scratch, and it was essentially all blown away within a decade. They aren’t poor by any means now (the both have 6 figure jobs). I have no idea how much money they inherited, it had to be at least 3 million since they each bought 3 condos in NYC, Boston. The sister as far as I know still owns the condo she bought with the inheritance. She did also marry a rich Wall St guy as well (they are both Wall St yuppies making more money than 10 of us put together). So I guess in the end, the dad was successful in that he raised 2 financially well off kids, but unfortunately didn’t seem to get to enjoy the fruits if his own labor.
Story #1 was what hit me the hardest since he was my age. I had a 1 hour long phone conversation with my friend, and while I encouraged him to quit his job and spend some of his money before he died, he ultimately didn’t. It was then, I realized if I don’t spend my money, someone else will if I die early, and I will end up regretting not enjoying the fruits of my labor.
I stopped “hyper saving” and made a conscious decision to go out more, work less, eat better food,