As far as trying to answer the question of "what you do" seriously and honestly for potential mates, I wish there was a word to combine all of the little individual things you do that help keep you in this low-expense lifestyle - like an investor, financial advisor/planner, chef, cyclist, handy man/woman, travel agent (to get good deals), house cleaner, auto mechanic (if you fix your own cars), social director, etc.
If this was a valid answer if you were doing this stuff for other people and getting paid for doing it, why can't we answer the question the same way if we are doing it for ourselves and getting paid in the sense of lowering our costs?
And I suppose some people get paid to be a life coach...well you are your own life coach.
This sort of thing (often suggested to stay-at-home moms [and I use "mom" on purpose because they usually are]) is misleading because most people who describe themselves as a "handyman" or a "financial advisor" etc. actually have training and education in those areas. Saying "I'm a chef" when you're just an amateur is kind of posing.
Yeah, you're probably right. I have a soft spot for this because my mom was a SAHM (after baby #2 or 4 born and coming to the US as immigrants so it was a sacrifice). My mom always felt put down by her sisters who worked outside of the house. Of course, one sister (my aunt) had my grandmother living with her tending to the necessary duties. The other aunt is just an amazing selfless always working kind of person (she's 89 now and so active and in great health).
Just this past weekend, my mom was telling me that her sisters brought up her SAHM status again recently and told her she was lucky. Mind you - they are all in their 80s now and not working outside of the house. I used these same words I said here to tell her that she did a lot for her family and taught us a lot of stuff because she was at home, and she shouldn't listen to her sisters. It's true - if they had hired someone to cook for us, no one would have looked down on that person for cooking since it was their "job" they were being paid for. But my mom doing it for her family is then looked down upon by her own sisters who said she was lucky she didn't have to have a job. I think my mom appreciated my words.
Makes no sense to me...sounds like society only values work if an outside person pays you for it. If you do it for your own family and bypass the cost of the middleman, then some in our society don't put as much importance to it. Makes me mad because my mom was an awesome mom.