Poll

Were your parents spendypants, frugal or somewhere in between?  

Spendypants
72 (21.1%)
1 Spendypants 1 Frugal
57 (16.7%)
Frugal
142 (41.6%)
Somewhere in between
70 (20.5%)

Total Members Voted: 341

Author Topic: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal  (Read 9406 times)

Jim Fiction

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #50 on: October 13, 2018, 05:07:48 PM »
Both were spendypants, much to their detriment. My mom has improved over the last few years out of necessity, but its been too little too late (my mom is 59 and my dad is 63). They are ill-prepared for retirement (my dad is on disability so he is already retired) and still have a significant amount of credit card debit, not to mention the mortgage. My dad is still spendy, though my mom reins him in as best she can - just today he was talking about wanted to buy her a brand new SUV. Its a big source of frustration.

I fell into the same habits, despite knowing better. Though I've come around the last few years after finding the site.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2018, 05:10:56 PM by Jim Fiction »

ETBen

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #51 on: October 13, 2018, 09:27:59 PM »
I need an option for thinks they’re frugal but buys cheap stuff that doesn’t work or needs to be replaced often. Which might be a good thing since my mother considers shopping a hobby or pastime. I didn’t know for a long time that people didn’t spend their weekends in the mall or driving around to stores just for fun. When they moved into their house a few years ago, I found 3 walk-in closets full of what was basically $10 Walmart sweaters and cheap outlet mall pants.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #52 on: October 14, 2018, 02:42:27 AM »
ETBen - I have an aunt who is like your parents.  She is retired (has a government pension and married into a wealthy family so despite the shopping habits she is OK) but spends her free time walking around shopping malls and online shopping.  I guess it's useful occasionally to have a relative like this as last time I was home I was looking for a particular item (nice dress for one of my kids for an event) and she immediately knew that there were some nice dresses on sale in her size at store X.  It was kind of scary that she knew that though as she doesn't have any grand children so no reason to know if children's clothes are on sale somewhere.

aGracefulStomp

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #53 on: October 14, 2018, 04:50:44 AM »
Spendypants.

It's a major reason why I save so aggressively, the other being that I'm naturally very frugal.

They were a perfect example of what not to do.

Apple_Tango

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #54 on: October 14, 2018, 09:49:35 AM »
Overall frugal with no debt from either one. Although my mom has been known to waste money on junky knick knacks. My dad doesn’t really seem spend any money on anything except food and healthcare. He’s gone on a couple of cruises and does the snowbirding thing in FL. He also used to play golf and dance. Other than that...I can’t think of anything he spends money on. Both have government pensions plus personal investments of over $500,000 not including their houses. So they’re doing well for themselves. Especially since my mom barely graduated high school due to health issues and resulting insane behavioral issues.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2018, 09:54:40 AM by Apple_Tango »

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #55 on: October 15, 2018, 12:06:38 PM »
I actually really love the thought of spending a winter evening in front of a fireplace, versus practically anything else one might do.

Yeah I think everyone loves that idea. But they wouldn't like the idea of cutting their own wood.

Oh yeah? It never seemed like a huge deal to me. Going out into the woods with a chainsaw and logging seemed like a fairly normal weekend activity for me as a teen. But you can also buy a truckload of wood for not too much money. I imagine we'll probably pay for wood if we do end up with a cabin, unless we have opportunities for free wood here and there.

My boyfriend loves chopping wood with an axe, surprisingly. He actually does it for fun sometimes when we're staying somewhere with an axe and some logs.

^Yup. Cutting firewood is fun, healthy, and useful. I probably have 3 seasons' worth stacked beside my carport. I don't trust anyone who doesn't enjoy cutting firewood.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #56 on: October 15, 2018, 12:19:00 PM »
My mom was a spender. But she was incredibly generous with her time, possessions, and love. She never spent a lot on herself, but she spent money on her kids without a thought. My dad was frugal, but he would spend money on things he thought would be good experiences for us as kids (for example, we had lots of livestock that cost a lot of money to maintain - horses, cows, sheep, pigs - and generated very little income. He was a farm kid and he wanted us to have similar experiences). So really, neither of them were MMM-level frugal, but both exhibited traits that I've tried to replicate as a parent.

One

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #57 on: October 15, 2018, 12:29:12 PM »
I actually really love the thought of spending a winter evening in front of a fireplace, versus practically anything else one might do.

Yeah I think everyone loves that idea. But they wouldn't like the idea of cutting their own wood.

Oh yeah? It never seemed like a huge deal to me. Going out into the woods with a chainsaw and logging seemed like a fairly normal weekend activity for me as a teen. But you can also buy a truckload of wood for not too much money. I imagine we'll probably pay for wood if we do end up with a cabin, unless we have opportunities for free wood here and there.

My boyfriend loves chopping wood with an axe, surprisingly. He actually does it for fun sometimes when we're staying somewhere with an axe and some logs.

^Yup. Cutting firewood is fun, healthy, and useful. I probably have 3 seasons' worth stacked beside my carport. I don't trust anyone who doesn't enjoy cutting firewood.

If you like cutting firewood, you might want to check out my friend Buckin' Billy Ray Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wJeVcNb-lQ&index=2&list=PLMUje6I1l64mJ9ZINlZK4-DzwlBGGO3Vl

Sugaree

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #58 on: October 15, 2018, 12:30:27 PM »
My parents were pretty spendypants.  Dad was a first-generation college graduate who thought he was making the big bucks.  Mom was the daughter of two pretty frugal people who didn't pick up many of their good habits.  They've refinanced their house more times than I care to imagine.  They built the biggest (not the nicest, but the biggest) house they afford in 1993 and are still 7-10 years from paying it off.  Growing up they were bad to run the credit cards up on nothing until it became a crisis.  Then they would do something drastic like cash in savings bonds or refi the house, pay off the cards, cancel all but one of them "for emergencies."  Rinse and repeat.  They both retired pretty much the day they became eligible for their pensions.  I think they realized that they didn't plan well enough.  Dad went to work driving a shuttle bus on a college campus almost immediately after leaving his federal job.  Mom watches Judge Judy all day.  When we were kids fell for the timeshare scam.  Which at the time kind of worked out because the maintenance fees at their home resort were much less than a week at a hotel in Orlando or Williamsburg and most units had a full kitchen.  Now they are trying to sell it because they stopped using it.  But not before buying a second (or it might be third I think they inherited one too)  week at the beach.  This one they at least do use every year.  Or they did.  It may have been destroyed by Michael.  They also like cruises and take one or two a year. 

My grandparents taught me what to do (maternal) and what not to do (paternal) when it came to money.  The maternal grandparents were children of the depression, but to hear them tell it, the depression changed nothing for them because they were already scraping by.  My grandmother sewed and canned.  My grandfather could squeeze a penny like no other.  They both worked their way out into middle class.  My paternal grandparents survived, but not much else.  My grandmother was apparently a shop-o-holic and they were just juggling debt.  When my grandfather passed and my dad had to deal with the estate we found out that they were carrying $40k on 13 different credit cards dating back to the 70s. 

JSMustachian

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #59 on: October 15, 2018, 01:05:27 PM »
My parents have always spent more than they make and still do to this day. I lived the same way until I found MMM.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #60 on: October 15, 2018, 01:43:30 PM »
I actually really love the thought of spending a winter evening in front of a fireplace, versus practically anything else one might do.

Yeah I think everyone loves that idea. But they wouldn't like the idea of cutting their own wood.

Oh yeah? It never seemed like a huge deal to me. Going out into the woods with a chainsaw and logging seemed like a fairly normal weekend activity for me as a teen. But you can also buy a truckload of wood for not too much money. I imagine we'll probably pay for wood if we do end up with a cabin, unless we have opportunities for free wood here and there.

My boyfriend loves chopping wood with an axe, surprisingly. He actually does it for fun sometimes when we're staying somewhere with an axe and some logs.

^Yup. Cutting firewood is fun, healthy, and useful. I probably have 3 seasons' worth stacked beside my carport. I don't trust anyone who doesn't enjoy cutting firewood.

If you like cutting firewood, you might want to check out my friend Buckin' Billy Ray Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wJeVcNb-lQ&index=2&list=PLMUje6I1l64mJ9ZINlZK4-DzwlBGGO3Vl

Lol. I have never seen a video that involves both a ladder and a chainsaw that ended in anything except abject failure. Nice work.

Steeze

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #61 on: October 15, 2018, 05:38:15 PM »
I actually really love the thought of spending a winter evening in front of a fireplace, versus practically anything else one might do.

Yeah I think everyone loves that idea. But they wouldn't like the idea of cutting their own wood.

Something about splitting logs with a big maul and building a fire = good times to me.
I will split and stack wood for fun, occasionally people will pay me to do it. :)

PC2K

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #62 on: October 16, 2018, 03:56:56 AM »
Spendy-ish

- Dad needed cars, Audi, Mercedes. He worked 300meters away, so you could crawl that distance. So I guess spendy.
- Mum tries to save money, but buy things because they are on sale; not because she needs them. Tons of junk piled up.

ice1717

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #63 on: October 16, 2018, 09:58:54 AM »
My family is an interesting study in family economic dynamics shaping children's approach to money.  I'm the oldest and watched my folks deal with some bad years due to my Dad's small business getting caught in a major customer's bankruptcy during my teenage years.  They had saved early and often and watched a lot of it evaporate just to keep the family finances going.  From this, I have a tendency to over save with the fear that one bad deal can make all the hard work disappear.  My 5 year younger brother was a teen while the family was on the upswing and finances were pretty stable.  He saves the standard 10-15% and rolls along.  The youngest brother is 8 years younger and was a teen when things were really flush.  He can't keep a penny in his checking account.  Hopefully he grows out of it with maturity and additional income. 

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #64 on: October 16, 2018, 10:05:36 AM »
Both of my parents were frugal (no debt, paid off their house by 40 - I know, I know, should have been investing). They did finance cars, but always paid them off, drove them for 10-15 years, & carried no credit card debt.

In retirement, they are apparently making up for lost time. They aren't spending more than they have, and in fact have a very well planned financial picture for the future years. But, my mom does spend money in ways that. .. raise my eyebrows. She's a lovely, lovely woman who takes great care of herself. She also spends a lot on her grooming/maintenance. I think she's struggled with growing old & not being as attractive/young looking as she once was.

BiggerFishToFI

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #65 on: October 16, 2018, 10:13:44 AM »
They were/are definitely spendy pants, but not stupid. Didn't carry credit card debt and overall did very well for themselves. They did buy new expensive cars/toys/vacations etc. all the time. They are still working parttime (with their own business) into their late 60's/70's after they retired for ~5ish years and got bored.

ducky19

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #66 on: October 16, 2018, 11:18:13 AM »
Spendy, still are. Dad was a farmer, mom worked as a receptionist/office worker for 30 years. Dad quit farming when I was in 5th grade, did a little bit of everything (selling insurance, oil distributor, roofing, siding, remodeling, and most recently delivering travel trailers) for the next 30 years. We never went without the essentials, but there never seemed to be a lot of extra either. I know they made enough money that they could have saved, they just always found something to spend it on. I feel like they've gotten spendier since us kids left the house. Both have newer financed vehicles, just bought a $65k camper to winter in AZ, credit card balances, and still have a mortgage on their house at 71. Both retired, but my mom went back to work part time at a couple of different places. They rely heavily on SS, and complain constantly how it's not enough to live on (news flash - wasn't supposed to be!). Dad got around $300k inheritance when grandpa passed away, but no idea how much (if any) of it is left. Should get another $300kish when grandma goes, just hope it's enough and he's not going back to delivering travel trailers at 85 like this guy:

https://people.com/human-interest/87-year-old-job-pay-medical-bills/

Makes my head hurt some days...

Acastus

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #67 on: October 16, 2018, 01:24:13 PM »
My parents spent like they were the upper middle class family they wanted to be. Too bad they were not really there. Unfortunately, that meant my self employed Dad never saved a dime for retirement. They shared a checking account, and one would not write down the checks they wrote, so checks bounced. They always fought about money. Mom knew poverty growing up, by Dad never did. They both grew up in the 1930's.

I think that is why I am more frugal, not interested in keeping up with the Jones's. I could not stand the constant bickering and strife.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Poll: My Parents were Spendypants vs Frugal
« Reply #68 on: October 16, 2018, 02:17:16 PM »
Looks like we have a clear winner :) Maybe the apple doesn't fall so far from the tree after all!

 

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