- Jul 18, 2003
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Inspired by the "After all of your bills, how much money do you have left every month?" thread.
So for all of you "savers" out there. Why are you a saver?
My reasons: I grew up in a single parent home with my mother, who worked and still works for Wal-Mart making living that only gets her from paycheck to paycheck. Growing up, she would get collection calls at all hours during the day from creditors (many of which I fielded), and whenever something broke it was an economic emergency. Most of my young life we didn't have a working automobile, either the washer or dryer didn't work (no money to buy a new one or fix the old one) so we did our laundry at a laundromat, and we pretty much never took a major vacation. All that said, my mother was/is a very loving mother and I love her in turn dearly; she is just terrible with money.
The main reason I'm a saver now is because I also saw the incredible amount of stress that not saving money put on her, and how it has even affected her health (both mental and physical) over the years. Also, she will likely work until her dying day. Even working at Wal-Mart though, she should have enough money to make a descent living and retirement fund IMO. My Grandmother (Dad's side of family) lived much more frugally and also worked at Wal-Mart all of her adult life. Granted, she stayed married until my Grandpa passed away, but she also had 4 kids which has got to be a bust financially speaking [husband's income = 3 more kids
]. My grandpa repaired electrical motors from his home-based business and was a preacher, so he wasn't exactly racking in the dough either. My Grandma acquired through profit sharing and savings, enough money to own a descent house, a really nice RV, and travels all over the country now with my new Grandpa (she remarried at age 65 a few years after my Grandpa passed away). My Grandma and new Grandpa keep all their money separate and have a prenup, so her nice retirement is all her doing FWIW. This is the type of retirement that I want (not dieing at 62, the retirement and having fun parts) .
I see saving money as a means to buy my freedom in so many ways. I won't be a slave to the 9-5 forever (I do currently like my job, but I'd trade it for a beach house and a few million in the bank any day of the week), I never have creditors call me so I no longer fear the phone ringing, if something breaks it is immediately repaired or replaced causing me no day-to-day stress (isn't there enough stress in the day-to-day anyway?), I typically don't have to worry if *insert wanted item here* will break the budget, and I can afford to take a vacation every couple of years with my growing nuclear family (currently 1wife and 2sons).
I suppose it's whatever you value most in life. I buy very few "toys", don't eat out hardly at all, take a single vehicle whenever possible on long trips, clip coupons, shop around for good deals on major purchases, use consignment shops, live in a house that's a little below my actual means, and drive a 1998 vehicle I bought used in 2000...best feature...it's paid for.
Not sure why I started this thread other than to hopefully get some of you 20 somethings thinking about putting more into your retirement and less into $600 video cards/cell phones/etc. Also, it's too long now to not post my thoughts, so here goes everything...
So for all of you "savers" out there. Why are you a saver?
My reasons: I grew up in a single parent home with my mother, who worked and still works for Wal-Mart making living that only gets her from paycheck to paycheck. Growing up, she would get collection calls at all hours during the day from creditors (many of which I fielded), and whenever something broke it was an economic emergency. Most of my young life we didn't have a working automobile, either the washer or dryer didn't work (no money to buy a new one or fix the old one) so we did our laundry at a laundromat, and we pretty much never took a major vacation. All that said, my mother was/is a very loving mother and I love her in turn dearly; she is just terrible with money.
The main reason I'm a saver now is because I also saw the incredible amount of stress that not saving money put on her, and how it has even affected her health (both mental and physical) over the years. Also, she will likely work until her dying day. Even working at Wal-Mart though, she should have enough money to make a descent living and retirement fund IMO. My Grandmother (Dad's side of family) lived much more frugally and also worked at Wal-Mart all of her adult life. Granted, she stayed married until my Grandpa passed away, but she also had 4 kids which has got to be a bust financially speaking [husband's income = 3 more kids
]. My grandpa repaired electrical motors from his home-based business and was a preacher, so he wasn't exactly racking in the dough either. My Grandma acquired through profit sharing and savings, enough money to own a descent house, a really nice RV, and travels all over the country now with my new Grandpa (she remarried at age 65 a few years after my Grandpa passed away). My Grandma and new Grandpa keep all their money separate and have a prenup, so her nice retirement is all her doing FWIW. This is the type of retirement that I want (not dieing at 62, the retirement and having fun parts) .I see saving money as a means to buy my freedom in so many ways. I won't be a slave to the 9-5 forever (I do currently like my job, but I'd trade it for a beach house and a few million in the bank any day of the week), I never have creditors call me so I no longer fear the phone ringing, if something breaks it is immediately repaired or replaced causing me no day-to-day stress (isn't there enough stress in the day-to-day anyway?), I typically don't have to worry if *insert wanted item here* will break the budget, and I can afford to take a vacation every couple of years with my growing nuclear family (currently 1wife and 2sons).
I suppose it's whatever you value most in life. I buy very few "toys", don't eat out hardly at all, take a single vehicle whenever possible on long trips, clip coupons, shop around for good deals on major purchases, use consignment shops, live in a house that's a little below my actual means, and drive a 1998 vehicle I bought used in 2000...best feature...it's paid for.
Not sure why I started this thread other than to hopefully get some of you 20 somethings thinking about putting more into your retirement and less into $600 video cards/cell phones/etc. Also, it's too long now to not post my thoughts, so here goes everything...
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