How do you do it? I find myself willing to spend a little more for comfort, quality or convenience. It has been creeping up. How do you frugal people do it? Do you save a lot of money?
Die rich
In my experience most frugal people have had some sort of financial trauma in the past and really want to avoid reliving it. Aside from that there are just people that really want to retire and have the discipline to ignore materialistic things and save. Personally I want a house.
What do you mean “you frugal people”?
They have FIRE in them
We realize shit don’t make us happy...
Used to be frugal, discovered it was easier to just make more.
I think he's talking about the people that remain frugal even when they don't have to
Frugal people at FAANG make lots of money already, they simply don't spend as fast.
YOLO!
it will help you save if you cook your meals. my grocery expense is around 300USD for the whole month. i would cook a big batch on a sunday (let's say ground beef) which will serve me for until thursday. then i would cook again on thursday so i have two meals in a week i can switch up. from sunday to thurs i can revise that meal to a picadillo, or put it on a taco, or add it on my pesto pasta, or eat it mixed veggies. that ground beef only cost 5 USD. and here in nyc if you eat out. at a minimum one meal will cost you 12USD you can make inexpensive meals out of chicken, beef, pork. my biggest expense is rent at 1700. then i save 4000-4500 per month. then on top of that my 401K and ESPP. in a year i save about 48K + the yearly bonus + others my base is 175K
Frugality is about figuring out what you need and existing within the confines of that. Earlier in my career I made a point of making a budget, beating it and then cutting my budget for the next year to what I spent. A dollar saved (AND INVESTED) is the key to FIRE tomorrow. This came in handy during the uncertainty of 2008 and allowed me to pool reserves for strategic purchases while lenders were scared shitless. It also helped a lot with avoiding hedonic creep. Finally and most importantly, I credit this with me weighing the same as I did my senior year in college. Not many people can honestly claim that (especially not techies). Now in my later years, I keep a splurge list that I use to reward myself for worthy efforts, milestones etc. it tends to be on the experiential side though and less on purchases.
I have simple interests (video games, working out, running)