Frugality

Frugality and Relationships

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A commenter yesterday asked how my girlfriend deals with my lack of spending. My reply started to become rather lengthy so I am posting on the subject as well.

My GF is relatively frugal when compared to how most people spend their money. Compared to me she is not that frugal. I realize that my level of frugality is not what most people are accustomed to. I’m not going to change my frugal ways though. At least not much. In any relationship you have to compromise some and we have both made some compromises. She has become slightly more frugal and I have loosened up on my spending a little. Money hasn’t been a problem so far because we keep our money separate. It could become an issue eventually depending on what happens with our relationship.

Since I am now living with my GF money is more of an issue than when we were just dating. I pay her an amount roughly the same as I was paying for my apartment towards our household expenses and she pays all the bills. I suppose some could question whether this is a fair arrangement since I’m paying less than half the household bills. I do pay more than what my living with my GF is costing her though. We are both happy with this arrangement and that is what counts.

I don’t think there is a standard formula for dealing with money for couples. Couples just need to discuss the subject and come up with their own solution.

Is Frugality Becoming Trendy?

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With the economic downturn tightening budgets I have seen several articles discussing how frugality is now becoming cool. They usually support this claim with a few anecdotes from ordinary citizens. Based on my own observations I doubt that frugality is actually becoming cool or even becoming much more socially acceptable. There are more people becoming frugal from necessity or perhaps because they are worried about the economy. They aren’t becoming frugal because they want to though, they are becoming frugal because they have to or because they feel that they need to be frugal due to the economy. Perhaps people will discover that a frugal lifestyle is a good choice regardless of whether it is necessary. My guess is that once the economy recovers the vast majority of these people will abandon their frugal ways and return to being regular consumers.

FBN Roundup- Half Marathon Edition

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I ran a half marathon yesterday. My original plan was to run a full marathon in October but a lack of training made that unlikely.  I scheduled the half marathon this month instead.  I still didn’t do very much training but it was enough to finish although at a very slow pace.  Here are some of my favorite posts from the Frugal Blog Network and beyond this week.

Almost Frugal gives us childproofing your house – the frugal way.   I don’t think I’ll ever need to do this but these sound like some good tips.

Frugal Babe refinished a coffee table.  This is an interesting coffee table. I wonder how much it cost to make it.

Frugal Zeitgeist talks about frugality and simple living. This is an explanation of what frugal means to her.

Not Made of Money shares five personal finance gifts for under $25.  These gifts will continue to give.

The Frugal Duchess gives us some ways to winterize your home.  She probably doesn’t need to winterize her home too much since she lives in Miami.  This is solid advice though.

And from beyond the FBN I also liked Not the sort of person who… from Wisebread.  This is a great examination of why people choose not to adapt certain frugal behaviors.

Gas is Under $2 a Gallon

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It was only a couple weeks ago that I posted about gas being under $3 a gallon and now it is under $2 a gallon.  Most gas stations around here have it at $1.99 a gallon.  Since I don’t drive much now this doesn’t make much of a difference in my finances.  I thought I was going to be able to make it through this month with only one fill up.  I had to make a couple of extra drives though and had to get gas Monday.  Gas was just a smidgen over $2 a gallon then and it cost me under $20 to fill up my car.  It has been a while since I’ve been able to do that and it is a great improvement from the over $40 it was costing me this summer.  With my current driving habits the cheap gas is probably saving me $10-$20 a month.  That isn’t a lot but I’m still glad I have a fuel efficient car though.  These gas prices will eventually go back up.

A Somewhat Frugal Bed Purchase

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We acquired a new bed over the weekend.  We had been needing one for some time.  Barbara Mandrell may have complained about sleeping single in a double bed but sleeping double in a double bed isn’t all that great either.  There just isn’t enough room for us to both sleep comfortably in a double bed so we upgraded to a queen size bed.

We got the mattress for free from one of my GF’s coworkers.  Her coworker didn’t like it because it was too firm.  It is definitely firm but I can sleep fine on it and the price was right.  My days of hiking and sleeping on a wooden floor with just a thin sleeping pad under me have changed my perception of how soft a sleeping surface needs to be.

Although we got the mattress for free we still needed a new frame and foundation.  We were hoping that the frame we were using for the double bed might be adjustable but no such luck.  We went and bought a frame fairly cheap at Sam’s Club and then bought the foundation at Big Lots.  We still needed bedding since the double size sheets wouldn’t fit the queen bed.  While shopping for those we found a bed frame that also doubled as a foundation.  Since it was cheaper than the foundation alone we bought it and now have to return the frame and foundation we had already purchased.  Kind of a hassle but worth it for the savings.

Setting up the new bed was pretty easy and didn’t take as long as I thought it might.  I’ve now had two nights sleep in the new bed and I think it was worth the investment.  We haven’t turned on our heat yet and being able to curl up in a warm, cozy bed is nice.