I'm frugal, my husband is not.
I'm frugal because:
I save, save, save because I HAVE to have a cushion of savings; I have a fear of living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to make ends meet. It terrifies me.
I will be laid off in April from my good-paying job and a baby is on the way in April (what timing!) Between savings, severance and umemployment, we'll be fine but I will be looking for another job when the baby is a few months old. I've curtailed all spending in the meantime, unless it's a necessity.
My husband has student loan and credit card debt; I have none so I handle the savings in our family though DH has a good pension and 401K plan.
Now that we have a child, the clutter in our house has grown exponentially thanks to generous grandparents. I rarely shop anymore and when I do, I simply don't want anything to add to the clutter. I think long and hard before buying anything.
I get so many bargains at Goodwill and garage sales on kids clothes and toys, I refuse to pay full or even sale retail at stores. We've received many kids books for gifts and use our wonderful library a lot. I also get a thrill out of using coupons for as much as possible.
Rampant consumerism bugs me to no end. So many have a look-at-me mentality, showing off expensive purses, clothes, cars, homes. I find that kind of lifestyle unattractive and part of a throwaway culture when consumer goods are discarded when they are no longer the latest thing. I prefer to keep clothes, cars, etc. for a long time until they wear out. This saves money and keeps them out of the waste stream.
