Reply to I have money, but this is where I cheap out

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Food.  We eat out maybe 2-3 times a week, and even then it's pretty basic (wings, Chinese).  I also am vigilant about not wasting food and we eat simply at home unless it's a special occasion - lots of pasta, soup, sandwiches.  I do splurge on sourdough from our local bakery - $7 a loaf!

We share a car and it is a non-luxury brand.

Clothes.  I will occasionally get a nice dress from Nordstrom but only for a wedding or similar.  Day to day my family wears clothes from TJ Maxx, Target, and Walmart (esp the kids).  We also don't buy clothes that often.  I do have a LOT of shoes - my weakness - but nothing designer.  I've been using the same handbags for years.

Our house.  We bought a small and not updated house and I have no interest in moving or expanding our existing space.  Our mortgage is $1600 a month and we live in an excellent school district.

I do have cleaners.  I consider it worth every penny.

I spend a lot on makeup (Dior, Chanel) and perfume.  And I will get a professional massage/facial every month or two, which I recognize is a total splurge.

We do spend on vacations/travel.

Combined we make a very comfortable HHI. (Low-to-mid six figures.)

Both my DH and I are spenders by nature but I manage the finances, and just approach it as I would a small business.  I put on my MBA hat to manage our finances and recognize that I would much rather have cash in reserves than have had a bunch of BS experiences and things.
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DP - you sound very sensible .

Re: folks critiquing your eating out 2-3 times a week at cheap eateries as not frugal  - I am not a fan of the “gotcha” mentality of some on DCUM - nitpicking minor details and not seeing the bigger picture - your cost cutting measures spun sensible to me and balanced by a desire for sanity. Well done getting such a low mortgage in a good school district.

I often can’t make certain foods cheaper than you can buy them at lower prices eateries in the US so we do the same. Also you are both working and saving time counts .

I agree on need for cleaner and it being worth every penny.

I diverge though on spending a ton on makeup and shoes. Just the basics for me. But hey yiu save a ton by your house and car choices so you can afford that.

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So I’m one of the “2-3 is not frugal” posters. I stand by that statement in that it is not particularly “cheap” of pp to eat out that often and that was her lead. The OP is asking what you are cheap about and this is not it. That doesn’t mean PP isn’t balancing well. [/quote]

Why hyoer focus on one negative detail? She/he has a mortgage of $1600 a month in modest house in good school district and driving modest cars - saving herself tons of money - it smacked of gotcha ![/quote]

Totally NP who has not participated in this discussion at all. I think PP's post implies that she lives fairly frugally. However the post here is not about living frugally overall, its about what you are cheap about in spite of your wealth. So I think of this much  more like the rich person at the hotel driving to 7/11 to get drinks to avoid the extra $6 they would pay in the hotel store.

That PP opened with how they eat out twice a week. Eating out twice a week is not being cheap about eating out, it just isn't. There isn't anything wrong with eating out twice a week, but it isn't cheaping out on takeout. Which again, is fine, but when you're responding to a thread where the topic is, 'what do you cheap out on' and your answer is, 'we eat out twice a week' you're going to get people focused on it because it makes no sense and if you put it as your first sentence then everyone will pick up on it! [/quote]

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