A Real-Life Reason For Frugality Thumbnail

Do you ever step back and wonder, “What’s the point of being frugal?” You might live in a small house, drive a 10 year old car, and have a wardrobe that should have been burned before the new millennium.

Your friends, on the other hand, don’t seem to be in financial duress, and they’re living in a McMansion with a couple of brand new cars in the driveway. Just once, you might like to purchase that new car on credit or upgrade to the house of your dreams, but I would urge you to stay the course and continue your life of frugality.

Our Story

My wife and I have been married for 2 years and like many young couples, we started with an overabundance of love, but money was scarce. We still thought that we deserved to go on trips and spend without regard, but once the bills started coming in (mainly, the student loans), we knew that we had to make a change.

In just over a year we paid off all of our debts. And, just so we’d never find ourselves in that situation again, we decided to cut our expenses so that we could live on just one of our incomes.

My wife and I both thought that this would be tough, but actually, it was kind of fun! Once the debts were paid off and our expenses were cut, we saved up money at an unbelievable rate! Within 4 short months, we were able to take our savings and purchase our very first house (of course we bought a cheap foreclosure so that we could still survive on one income)!

Two months after we purchased our house, my wife received the news that she no longer had a job (through no fault of her own – there just wasn’t enough work to support her position). Oh, and by the way, she received no severance and did not qualify for unemployment income.

Picture the average American in this situation. They have payments on their car, a large mortgage, and might even have furniture that’s not fully paid for. They would absolutely freak out and start hunting for a job immediately because those bills are still going to show up in the mailbox at the end of the month!

When I heard the news, I knew that we would be sound financially – we had planned for something like this. My income would continue to support our lifestyle without a hitch.

And now, rather than pushing my wife to find another job, I think it’d be cool if she pursued her passion in photography and design! Since she got that “bad news” she’s been coordinating photo shoots and spreading the word about her photography business. She’s having a blast and has actually had some people hire her for some projects already! I can’t wait to see where her new venture takes her.

Are you in good shape financially? Have you ever been in a situation like ours? What’s your story?