Are you helping a friend or family member fulfill a New Year’s resolution to be more frugal? If so, how are you helping?
Is there someone you know that should be trying to live a bit more frugally, but you don’t know how to approach them?
(Yes, this does pertain to an upcoming blog post and yes, I love to read what you all have to say about pretty much anything!)
I do have one person in my life who is always saying it must be nice to travel, go out to eat, etc — pretty much about any of our splurges. She never sees that we clip coupons, scrimp and save, think long and hard about any purchase while they buy any new thing that comes into their heads. Frankly this has upset me so much that I haven’t really talked to her in a while, and I would like to stay friends with her if she would stop doing this!
I’m watching my future SIL fly through her husband’s savings and his salary (she’s SATM) and don’t know if she’s anywhere near slowing down. It’s amazing to me that she knows that she spends more than they bring in and yet she’s not making any attempts at curbing down her spending sprees. Every week we hear about new toys she gets for her twins (they have enough to open a toy store already) and they eat out alot because she’s too tired to cook (they have full time help with twins – her best friend is there from 8am to 5pm). Do they need to be more frugal – absolutely! But I’m definitely not going to start with them on it because appearances are more important to that family than anything else. It’s like watching a train wreck in a slow-motion. Just waiting for the final crash.
On the other hand I’m helping my sister to be more frugal by pointing her to the store’s sales and helping her with the budget. She’s finally off the credit cards and on the cash envelope system so it’s a slow process but it’s working.
I am trying to help a couple of friends…. by helping them one on one with the whole coupon thing.
I GAVE UP—I have tried and tried to get my sister into couponing with no luck. She lost her job and STILL isn’t interested in saving a buck. I just don’t get it AT ALL!!!
I hope I am helping many, many people young and old with my blog.
I have a family member who has always made very bad financial decisions. We help out where we can, but basically shake our heads and wonder why after the 6th time the phone gets shut off, or the 3rd time in a winter they have no oil, they can’t just “wake up”. They make a decent wage, so it’s not that….. It is pretty frustrating. But I love her and like I said help where I can. I do not give her money, but do make sure her family has some food in the house etc
Yes I do. One of my friends is always broke. Her house & cars are paid off. She buys new clothes, shoes, accessories every week, as well as having her nails done weekly and getting her hair colored/highlighted & cut every 4-6 weeks. She goes to a fancy gym. Her family goes out to eat often & all of them must have the latest in electronic gadgets (cell phones, game systems, etc)and big toys (quads, camper, etc). Yet she whines & cries to me how they have no money. I finally cut her off of borrowing money from me, and instead offered to help her get on a budget and teach her to shop sales & with coupons. She said she doesn’t have time for coupons. I wanted to tell her to use some of the time she uses non-stop shopping! She said her husband would never agree to a budget & it’s too much thinking for her. She told me she’s not like me, she’s not good at that stuff. I tried to explain that it’s not always easy for me either, but I work hard at it because it’s important to me. She said it’s just not something she’s going to do. (insert me banging head off of the wall here). Remind you of someone DHunny? I can’t wait to read your posting on this.
Does one’s hubby count? He’s a work in progress, but doing quite well.
He doesn’t think he sees any more places we can cut back… but I need to teach him to say “no” to his wife more often. Wait… that would be me!!!
Well, I’d like to think that I’m helping in some small ways- my parents are retired and on a fixed income, so I send my mom any extra coupons I have for items that I know they purchase and use on a regular basis. (They definitely live within their means, but I know every penny saved counts and my mom is always grateful for the coupons I send.) I also send extra coupons for diapers, Pull-Up’s and wipes to my best friend in TX- she has a 3 yr old and a 10 month old, so she can definitely use those! Oh- and can’t forget my nextdoor neighbors- they have a cute, little cat who is always coming over to our house to say hello and sleep on the back deck in the sun- I give any cat food/litter coupons I come across to them. I know that the coupons I pass on to these folks will be used and appreciated, so hopefully it’s helping them!
I try to help friends and family who are on fixed incomes or minimum wage by explaining my deals and sharing what I get for free of little OOP. There is one person I know that just doesn’t get it. She says that CVS doesn’t have anything she needs…..and she has credit card debt like ther’s no tomorrow! As long as she can pay some on them each month, she sees no problem with it. She is also constantly buying things for others that she can’t afford (buying love?). I don’t even know where to start with her!
I am continually trying my best to get my sister motivated to save money. She is married and has 4 young children. Her constant phone calls complaining about how they don’t know how they will make ends meet that month, hold no validity with me anymore. I have no pity on someone who doesn’t have money to make the mortgage payment, car payment, money for gas, groceries or utilities, but consistently has the money to get her hair cut and colored ($120), her nails done every few weeks, tanning, shopping, eating out and buying all the latest toys and gadgets. I have tried time and time again to help her stick to a budget and show her the light and instead of wanting to better her situation, she just goes to my parents for the money. I am tired of her borrowing from them everytime I turn around and I am tired of them lending it to her everytime I turn around! Again, no pity whatsoever on her behalf!