Couple of Frugal Tips

I was always a frugal growing up. I would have been big spender in my late years if I would not have faced something like Mumbai Floods so early in my spending days. It changed my outlook towards money and stuff completely.

Side effects of my experience, I might not be a minimalist but I am not a collector either. I use and possess lot of stuff but I don't buy anything ever that is very good but I might need it after some time. I always postpone such purchases till the point I actually need it. 75% of the things it turns out that I actually never got to need it.

Secondly, as some of my friends here are aware that I am on actually spending freeze for one year. I am restraining myself from buying anything new for more then a year. In retrospection that's what I always do. I always abide by the policy of "Only Replacing the things that I Love". What this means is that generally I am very satisfied with 5 skirts, 2 jeans, 4 pair of shoes and so on. Whenever I go shopping I can easily curb the urge to buy anything new till all my possessions are in good shape. If, however, any of the things are torn off, I feel absolutely comfortable and OK to go ahead and buy them.

This helps in achieving two goals, one not possession loads of stuff and second never having materialistic possessions of more then 3L. Side effect, this tuning of money attitude saves me load of money.

Give it a try on your own. Start with any one thing, and decide how many of them are just good enough for you. Once you have that number train your mind to not buy them new till they are in good shape and replace it soon once it is torn off. Once mastered, it will help you save a lot by curbing the urge to buy the unnecessary things.

Guilt of affording it

Early life
Throughout my childhood I have lived a frugal lifestyle. Ours was a single-income home and hence, money was limited and generally less then everybody's cumulative needs. I used to get my pocket money and I don't remember even one incident when I had no money at the end of month. My money philosophy used to be simple, "avoid splurge today for a need of tomorrow". My dad sometimes, to tease my frugal ideas, used to say that I have more savings then him. Then I started working and was still frugal. I had a goal to save for my further studies and hence lived like a student even while working.

Some of my friends used to tell me that I am living a life of deprivation and I agree. There was no balance in my life at that point in time. I made those choices in earlier life because of two reasons, firstly because I wanted to enjoy my working life and second because I used to feel guilt of spending my dad's earned money on my wish lists. In those days, whenever I used to feel sad, I used to tell myself that this is the only way to have comfortable life that I dream about.

Employment Effects
I officially finished my studies in 2005 and started working thereafter. I told myself that now is the time to get rid of frugal attitude and enjoy the materialistic things. I started splurging on things that I loved clothes, jewellery and travelling. I convinced my self that it’s OK to spend 40% of my salary on these things and save rest. I know that it’s not necessary to save all that I earn now.

Marriage Happened
After 3 years I got married. Then came few months where I was only spending all the money that I am earning. First year of my marriage I could hardly save anything for retirement. I understood that I am building my home from scratch and hence this is bound to happen. Before my marriage completed first year, recession hit. We took pay cuts and got little more conscious about spending the money. As a result, we sailed smoothly in recession year as well.

Current Situation
Now I am again at point of time where I have no immediate expenses. I have everything that I need at my home; I have bought my new car with down payment, hence less of recurring cost of maintenance for now. I am again on track to save for retirement; I am again building my EF.

Of course I feel blessed and happy about my financial status. I am doing OK, not making any dumb choices, cutting the corners where needed and enjoying a balance between today and tomorrow. I can afford to indulge in few things that I love but others find extravagant. That makes me feel guilty of spending, guilt of being able to afford it. Not so encouraging comments from friends and family in some cases make it even worst. I find it very annoying and depressing when somebody comments on my indulgence without even considering that it might really matter to me or it might be that I have first saved for it. I have actually heard few things like, "wow, can you really afford a lunch at 5 star hotel on some XXX occasion", "you spend Rs 700 on a game, that's too much." At such occasions, I feel guilt of being able to afford some thing that my peers probably can't afford.

Why should I feel guilt on such occasions? I have worked hard for being at a place where I am today. I have made some very difficult choices in my life to have my current life. And above all, when I was making those choices and my peers were having fun, I never felt bad for myself or them. Rather I used to feel happy for them and used to motivate myself that I am going to have better life someday. But the ground reality is I feel bad.

Does anyone else also experience same? If yes, how you guys handle it?

My Spending Spree

I have been a personal finance savvy since childhood. I love saving money, seeing my money grow, tracking my expenses, reducing my spending and so on. I never had any problem with money not even when I got my first job. This is because I had a goal of saving for further studies at that time. But then, when I finished my studies and got my real first job, I went mad with my money.

When I graduated, I had some 50K left with me. And I was earning close to 20K. But in two months I was left with 11K only, given I had no rent to pay at that time. What went wrong, almost everything? I had too much of cash flow but no goals for me. Now I didn't have to save for studies and other then that I never wanted anything at that stage. Thankfully, I realized my spending problem before it came close to becoming addiction and came back on correct track.

What about you? Have you faced similar attitude change?

Q&A: The Year of No Clothing Purchase - My Version

I just read about The Great American Apparel Diet through a blog. I am doing some thing similar as one of the experiments that I started last year, though mine is modified form of same. I liked the format of this post and hence would also like to answer all the questions answered by another participant.


What made you want to be a part of the Great American Apparel Diet?
Well, I am not exactly a part of this so I'll answer what made me to be on "No New Clothes" philosophy. I had way too many clothes at one time. One day after wasting around 20 minutes in order to find something in my wardrobe I realized I had too much clutter. I decided that I needed to cut back and hence will not buy anything new and will try to use my existing wardrobe from now on.

Before starting the "diet," how often did you go shopping for clothes, and roughly how much did you spend in the course of, say, a month or a year?
I used to shop like almost twice in month. My monthly spending used to be some Rs 10K-15K per month.

In the past, have you ever tried to give up other things -- smoking, alcohol, French fries, or whatever? If so, how do those experiences compare with your current one? What's harder, and why?
I tried giving up Tea for one week as part of art-of-living workshop. That was way more tough then this. I need tea to survive just anywhere but shopping's urge can be curbed by simply not going to malls and markets.

Have there been moments when it is really difficult to stick to the commitment? When, and what happened?
I occasionally have to go to markets to buy the gifts for friends and family. It gets difficult to resist personal shopping some times.

Any good tips you'd care to share for putting together outfits without spending a penny?
I did not-to-repeat any dress experiment and it helped me in understanding and recalling what all I own.

What have you learned about yourself, your wardrobe, your shopping habits, and even about your family and friends while taking part in this?
I hardly need to shop so frequently. No matter how many dresses I own, I have a favorite set of 5-7 dresses that I wear repetitively.

Growing Jewellery - Best of both the Worlds

Man, I couldn't resist posting about this.
I am not sure whether this is new concept or old one, but I came across it for the first time.
It combines two of my greatest weaknesses, jewellery and plants.
Yes, there exists something called Growing Jewellery.
It has tiny islandic moss plants sprouting in stainless steel bases.
Don't believe me, see some photos from Juliusson, creator of these marvelous pieces.





Please do visit Juliusson site.