I was raised pretty poor, so frugality was a necessity more than anything else, but now that I am grown, I see that it's still a necessity simply because it makes sense.
There are many, many ways I live a frugal life and it's become a pleasure to me now and I have fun with it. It pleases me immensely to get something second hand really cheap that would have cost a bundle if bought new. It really makes me happy to get stuff for free that I can make into something else~like pallets, wood scraps, fencing, tin roofing, baling twine, etc.
Over here in the US we have stores called Good Will stores where one can drop off donated items they no longer want of clothing, bedding, throw pillows, furniture, books, toys, dishes, baskets, gadgets of this or that, bicycles, etc. We donate to them all the time...and we also shop there. The prices are deliciously cheap and if you know what you are looking for and recognize quality, you can pick up some wonderful finds there for a couple of bucks.
I LOVE that place. Since I don't accumulate "stuff", the simple concept of dropping off things you no longer want or need that others can still use is wonderful. Because I love a bargain and like to find things I need cheaper than retail, this place is a goldmine!
My mother shops there exclusively for all her clothing and shoes. She gets some very high quality items that are new or lightly used that she would be paying scads for if bought in a typical store. She gets compliments on her attire all the time~ she smiles and says, "Good Will" because she knows that some folks turn their noses up at buying clothing second hand. She has no problem with it.
If she can get a quality pair of shoes that look new for $2.99, that would normally cost her $65 retail, who is the smarter shopper?
Looking classy on the cheap is just our style.
When she gets tired of her current wardrobe, she can just donate them to Good Will and shop for another. I tell her she is just renting clothing from there but she just laughs and has her fun. At 80 a woman has to find her fun where she can!
We like to live simply at home and we take many steps to keep utilities and food costs low, as well as other expenses, which allows us to spend the money on more worthwhile things like helping others, travel to see family who are isolated and remote, and emergency needs of our own.
We burn wood to heat our home, raise chickens for meat and eggs, raise a garden and preserve it, harvest wild game and preserve it, we don't spend much on clothing and such, we stay at home a lot to preserve the expense of gas and because we just love staying home, we don't have TV for various reasons, we don't have cell phones because we find them rather silly for the most part, we read a lot of books that we borrow from the library or even buy from Good Will (hardbacks a dollar, paper backs fifty cents), I make my own detergent that works out to a couple of pennies per load, we have our own well so we don't pay city utilities....we live 15 mi. from the nearest small town and 20 mi. from a larger one.
We don't use air conditioning in the summer, just fans. We eat healthy and live healthy so we don't have medical expenses at all....Mom's 80 and she takes no prescription meds and has no chronic conditions, not even joint pain. She stays active...very active...for the sole purpose of not having to fool around with medical issues. She line dances and square dances several times a week, walks briskly on a daily basis, does all her own lawn maintenance~that's 3 acres of lawn and 20 acres total and she keeps it looking like a park by mowing and using a trimmer. She does all her own home maintenance also. She believes keeping busy keeps one fit and healthy and I would have to agree with her. She also volunteers to maintain the huge lawns of some of her children's homes each summer. She's a real hoot and I can't really keep up with her.
So many things we do to keep a frugal lifestyle that I can't really list them here but we are always looking for ways to reuse things, recycle things and keep our living small in this world. We aren't really miserly or anything because we will use money on things we like to do or for the needs of others, so our lives are abundant and full as can be, even when lived frugally.
Anybody else out there who has turned living frugally into a fun kind of life?