GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us! We kindly ask that politics be left out.
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I'm not a cheapskate, exactly. Not really a miser, either (that would imply a personal fortune, which I do not possess). And I'm not a penny-pincher, obsessively sticking to lists and budgets and balancing things out at the end of the day, or a bargain shopper combing through advertising circulars and jumping on every sale.
I'm not even particularly frugal when it comes to certain things (you won't catch me on one of those extreme couponing shows anytime soon; I sometimes allow myself non-necessities like art, travel, or pricey cocktails when I go out), though I'm careful enough with my money to be considered a cautious spender most of the time.
But one thing I will admit to being is thrifty.
And not just because vintage is trendy or hip, either; my thriftiness predates eBay and Craigslist by decades. I used to hit the yard sales and church basements and thrift shops with my older brother when I was still in junior high. He actually does it for a living now (on a larger scale; he co-owns an auction house). I'm more of a talented amateur. :-)
If pressed, I'd say I'm a mix of good old-fashioned Yankee thrift, vaguely mistrustful Gen X sensibilities (recession is my middle name), pragmatic singleton (no second income I can count on), and natural hunter-gatherer (I always liked the unpredictable quality of this kind of shopping...you really don't know what you will find, and once you learn to spot the good stuff, finding an amazing deal can be a thrill).
I come by it honestly, too. My Dad was a Depression Baby, and two (of three) grandmothers might as well have had these words cross-stitched on a pillow, because they sure lived by them:
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." - Unknown
With that background and my natural inclination to fix, recycle, and buy gently used items rather than new stuff, I tend not to spend much beyond my means (with a few notable blips in my youth, armed with a no-limit AmEx and no real sense of the term "credit-worthy"). I lived in inexpensive apartments; I had roommates for a long time. I've never owned a car.
Still, for many years I did spend a decent chunk of my income on something I justified as a "necessary" purchase: cigarettes. Thousands and thousands of dollars over the years, literally up in smoke. For someone who buys most of her clothes in thrift shops & finds most of her furniture in yard sales (or free on the sidewalk), deciding to to set $5-10 on fire every day is no small thing, nor the wisest of financial decisions. And yet, I managed to rationalize it.
As the price climbed, my spending on other things cut back. Pretty sure there were at least a couple years where I never even set foot in a mall or big box store to buy new clothes or shoes, never mind bigger-ticket items for my household. I took the bus, I walked, I scrimped and thrifted and still...well, eventually, I hit a breaking point.
I was working for a business that didn't provide healthcare, and I couldn't afford it on the open market...and as a smoker, it would have cost me more just for that alone. The need to quit for financial reasons intensified when I finally did the math and realized I'd never be able to afford to buy a place if I was still smoking. The money I was spending (a couple hundred dollars a month) was insane. And no amount of cutting back was going to make enough of a difference.
I think that's when I started getting serious about needing to quit, instead of the half-hearted attempts I'd made earlier. The numbers didn't lie (dammit!) and I couldn't justify it to myself anymore. My otherwise modest spending habits were actually helpful when I quit; since I wasn't used to having the extra money, I just transferred it to a savings account and started letting it accumulate instead of burn.
It took a few years, and more scrimping, but I finally saved enough (and got my finances and credit in order enough) to get a house. And as a newbie homeowner, I mostly stick to my thrifty ways (the occasional splurge at Home Depot or Lowe's or BJ's aside!); I still use my Goodwill discount card more than my MasterCard. I like the thrift shop ethos: it's not just cheap, it's green. I'm not lining the pockets of the Walton family and the goods you find at thrift stores and yard sales and on Craigslist or Freecycle aren't cookie-cutter samey. Sometimes I even find real bargains (things I could never afford otherwise) and one-of-a-kind items that give my home and wardrobe a certain thrifty panache.
But I wouldn't even have that home if I hadn't made the decision to quit smoking. That was my biggest, thriftiest move of all time, and it's still paying off.
Who's Your Li'l Buddy?
1BQ, 3rdGenFeminist, A Man Called Gloom, Abra Crabcakeya, Actbriniel, addisnana, AfroPonix, aishmael, Alise, Alpha99, ambeeeant, American in Kathmandu, amk for obama, andsarahtoo, angry marmot, Anne933, anodnhajo, aoeu, AoT, aquarius2001, arcadesproject, Archie2227, arodb, Arthur Wolf (in memoriam), assyrian64, Aunt Acid, awkawk, b4uknowit, bamablue, BARAKABETH, barnowl, b barrie, bdizz, beatpanda, beefydaddy18, BFSkinner, bgblcklab1, BigAlinWashSt, Bike Crash, BirderWitch, BJKay, bleeding heart, blingbling65, blue husky, Blue Intrigue, bluedust, BluejayRN, BlueJessamine, Bluerall, bluestatedem84, BoiseBlue, boudi08, Brahman Colorado, breedlovinit, BrenP, BrianParker14, Bronxist, BrowniesAreGood, bsmechanic, buddabelly, bumbi, BusyinCA, cactusgal, Carol in San Antonio, CathiefromCanada, CathodeRay, CDH in Brooklyn, cee4, Cen Den, ChocolateChris, ChurchofBruce, ciganka, cinnamondog, citizenx, ClapClapSnap, claude, Cleante, Code Monkey, codobus, Coldblue Steele, Colorado is the Shiznit, 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