You are not weird or crazy, babyosisi. There are a lot of us out there.

The only problem I have is, I save and then I give too much. Just that, I think, what is the point of having so much money in my account, when there is a fellow out there that needs it now. I have in excess of 20k with people, that I loaned and promised to pay back. I don't even bother myself. Once I loan, I write it off.

I am definitely grateful that I am in the position to help.

See, some people need expensive things to feel good about themselves. Once you are secured in your being, staying in an expensive hotel, does not trip you or make you feel superior.

If the average american was like you, we'll not have this housing wahala. People living way above their income.

Nothing wrong with not having a plasma. I watch TV an average of 4 hours per week. What's the point of buying a 2k tv, that I'll never watch?

I love Suze Orman too. I love her ending note, remember, in life, people first, then money, then things.

Nothing do you o jare. Carry go!

@ nwando,

you are doing very well, especially wanting to retire at 50. i hope you are also looking at what you will do with the free time when you do retire. You may want to share the pathway you have followed to financial success with others then in the form of a book, seminars etc, etc especially as you seem to be doing that already with friends et al.
you said something about mutual funds and investing in the depressed US economy that is spreading round the world. If you are not currently diversified into bonds (fixed income debt instruments) you may speak with your assigned financial advisor to see what advantages it may hold out for your portfolio.
moreover, when seeking out sales, you may help yourself by going for high end products because 60% savings on $100 product is more beneficial than on $50 although it also depends on what your size is, as those in the modal range find it more difficult to get good sales. meanwhile you can be sure people, including yourself notice the quality difference.
best wishes.

nwando:

I dream of having boreholes dug at my village so that people can have clean water at no cost and I know that will happen in the near future.
That is the cause dearest to my heart.

May God hasten to fulfil this desire of your heart- Amen

@nwando,

You've talked a lot about vacations, retirement, etc. How about college funds for your kids? Are they all graduates? Or are they still too young for college? Just curious. My biggest savings right now is for my kids. MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Yale are expensive schools and my household income will not qualify for any form of "low income" scholarship. What do you think?

RichyBlack,

You can still retire at 50 after seeing your last child out of uni. However it pre-supposes that you did family planning in a way that your last child was born when you were 27 - 29 so the child is a graduate and can run his/her own show by 21 - 23.
You should also take care to not allow the kids become over-dependent on daddy & mummy growing up in all ways, including financially, otherwise they may miss out some of the important life lessons.

@Nwando

Every sensible human being saves when the opportunity arises
Some people are cursed and some follow natural instinct!
IT IS COMMON SENSE TO SAVE

As richlyblack said too much saving like this will not help the US economy.

However you can divert the funds to Nigerian Stocks (if you haven't) so that we can have money to spend developing the economy here while you get high by sniffing your valuation from time to time.

Disclosure: I am relatively frugal also.

There is nothing strange in ur posts. All african women are the same. They never spend a dime. But are well seated in the receiving end. oshofree

@poster
u want to be mega rich by age 50, are u d giver of life?

the richest men in the world have always had very frugal wives. kudos to y'all ladies.

i pledge to return to my spartan saving style ust because you honeys re-ignited it!

419 issue

The only problem with this is:

Others who never really knew how much you appreciated spending wisely are the ones who will blow off your money.

There's always a leakage, usually family. And they can blow!, you can try sha,

My advise is: be careful abt your expenses, however always remember, there might never be a tommorrow, therefore try as much as possible to to maintain a sound life, it might still come dollar cheap after a period of time, but always maintain a quality life.

Nice post! Funny enough, i seem to be in a similar state. . . I make a decent amount of money, but before i spend it, i do a lot of mental permutation/ integration etc . . . i keep thinking about the "opportunity forgone" I won't bat an eyelid when it comes to investing, i can go to any length, but when it comes to spending money anyhow, hmm. . . that one na die!

However, i do love to treat myself once in a while, just to strike a balance . . . and such treats are usually BIG treats !!! and they "almost always" come after making BIG money !!!

Its a good quality.its wise too. I believe in going for the less expensive but quality stuff.
You re not obsessed.Its better for a woman to be frugal than a man.But i hope you know there are things you shouldnt skrimp on.
Once in a while sha, just dig deeper. Go out n buy yourself some manolo blanikhs.
but is it true its a habit/attitude you must develop if you live in America?

Nwando you are right. It is in vogue. he's my Tiger. Lol.

Anyway you are not the only one listed on the cheapness register. I have decided to go cheap. For the first 3 years of my working life i saved nothing. I was young, ridiculously overpaid and was free from all encumbrances. No hangers on, no needy extended family, no kids ,no nothing. Did i save a penny? No! I blew everything. I just bought meaningless stuff that i could very well have done without. I did my hair, my nails, bought clothes and boughts more shoes than i knew what to do with. Then i read the book "The richest man in babylon". Oh my God! The scales fell out of my eyes. A book so simple did the trick. I did a complete turn around. I suddenly had the fear that i would retire without having enough for my arthritic years.
Besides my kids all 12 of must have to get the best education possible. I started saving money. I revell in my cheapness. the best part is that i dont miss those things because for me it's like "been there, done that". I can afford them easily if i want but i dont do stuff that like anymore.
Im the deranged psycho running around the house turning off all the lights to save on the electricity bill.
My car is a regular car. Nothing fancy. I could easily upgrade but this one takes me to the office and back so it will have to do for now. I dont compromise on food though. My refridgerator is stocked full always. so is my pantry. My sweetie once called me cheap. He does not believe in depriving himself of anything. Good for him. I told him he should be thankful that his wife is prudent. . Anyway i make sure that while im the one denying myself things that the money i save goes into MY account and not into the family purse. How do you say smart woman again?
My mother always told me its not what you wear but how you wear it. A beautiful woman will shine even if dressed in a potato sack. the best thing you can wear is a smile.
when it comes to material stuff ive definitely cut down and im better for it. I have savings. I am ready for tomorrow. no matter what 'Mr Spoilt' decides to spring on me this chick is covered.

@Nwando

Nope! You are not one of them---obsessed with saving money!

I am one of them being frugal with children's fund for college, timesharing property for vacation resort condominium, yearly vacation cruise for the deaf, and economically computer upgrades parts/peripherals (i am computer freak). Very wisely money management plan where my mother had taught me when i was 15 years old to start with my first time opening bank checking/saving account.

At my former church in the deaf ministry, I taught all deaf members on the topic, "Dave Ramey's teaching principle: THE 7 BABY STEPS - Begin Your Journal to Financial Peace" learning how to get out of debt at below:

[list]
[li]$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund[/li]
[li]Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball[/li]
[li]3 to 6 months of expenses in savings[/li]
[li]Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement[/li]
[li]College funding for children[/li]
[li]Pay off home early[/li]
[li]Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate [/li]
[/list]

My ex-husband whom I divorced is now FOOL to discover about me - - -living in comfortable lifestyle while he still struggles with his too many illness! Because he is excessively money spending recklessly on lavish materials, egostics, stingy, and hard-headed like a donkey. He is very deep debt-ridden!!!

DISCLAIMER:
Who is Dave Ramsey? Dave Ramsey is the voice of financial wisdom in today's debt-ridden lifestyle. (AMERICAN)

I earned a certificate of FINANCIAL WEALTH BUILDING: beat a debt' from my former church bible institute where my pastor taught the same I used above for hearing congregations. My pastor is a licensed teacher/presenter of Dave Ramsey's Church Program to teach his own congregation to use God's money at God's way.

TRUE FACT:
70% of the Americans DO NOT HAVE SAVING Accounts, they are cash-strapped on deep debt-ridden lifestyle.

I disagreed with them as follow below:

@RichyBlacK -  his quote: "MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Yale are expensive schools and my household income will not qualify for any form of "low income" scholarship".

I am below the upper middle class income but not in poverty class, my household income does qualified me entering my distance university to earn my 2004 BFA degree with 3.9 GPA Summa Cum Laude (not IVY universities, @RichyBlack mentioned above).  My daughter got several scholarships, saving bonds, leadership financial support entering her nursing school last year as well as remaining years that is based on my household income.

@Babs_O - SAVING MONEY do not cause US ECONOMY recession!!! THAT'S TOO BAD for people who are debt-ridden and money spending recklessly without thinking about having SAVING ACCOUNTS using 7 baby steps I mentioned above.

@damola1 - I STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY after my mother taught me about money management when i was 15 years old. Now i am grown adult, my parent now is debt-ridden, crying out seeking for help! It puzzled me!!!     They were the one who always asked me for my money ALL THE TIME. I am sick of it- - -moved out at my own!  My mother is OVERPROTECTIVE, WORRYWART, PARANOID over me facing in a HEARING WORLD, because of MY DEAFNESS she worry about people out there take advantage of me. Now they go taking money management class and financial advisor help at their own.

@Anuli ph - I do live in America to enjoy my life with NO WORRY ABOUT FINANCIAL BURDEN!!! Poor people in America who are debt-ridden pulling their hairs to have lousy money management plan with BAD MORTGAGE, BAD JOBS, and goes on,  Can't wait for my son GETTING OUT OF MY HOUSE 3 more years toward his high school graduation!  

havent you heard about the Yoruba proverb -? It says - it is a fool who pile up and save money just to become rich -

Dont you know the bible also talks about that?

nah you dont sound like a cheapstake to me, there are so many things u do i know some damn cheapstakes wont do(u have a digital camera,go on vacation yearly) and more stuff.
it's good you are saving but even though u wait for prices to drop am sure you still spend cos all what you do(u far from misery)

uspry1:

@Nwando

Nope! You are not one of them---obsessed with saving money!

I am one of them being frugal with children's fund for college, timesharing property for vacation resort condominium, yearly vacation cruise for the deaf, and economically computer upgrades parts/peripherals (i am computer freak). Very wisely money management plan where my mother had taught me when i was 15 years old to start with my first time opening bank checking/saving account.

At my former church in the deaf ministry, I taught all deaf members on the topic, "Dave Ramey's teaching principle: THE 7 BABY STEPS - Begin Your Journal to Financial Peace" learning how to get out of debt at below:

[list]
[li]$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund[/li]
[li]Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball[/li]
[li]3 to 6 months of expenses in savings[/li]
[li]Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement[/li]
[li]College funding for children[/li]
[li]Pay off home early[/li]
[li]Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate [/li]
[/list]

My ex-husband whom I divorced is now FOOL to discover about me - - -living in comfortable lifestyle while he still struggles with his too many illness! Because he is excessively money spending recklessly on lavish materials, egostics, stingy, and hard-headed like a donkey. He is very deep debt-ridden!!!

DISCLAIMER:
Who is Dave Ramsey? Dave Ramsey is the voice of financial wisdom in today's debt-ridden lifestyle. (AMERICAN)

I earned a certificate of FINANCIAL WEALTH BUILDING: beat a debt' from my former church bible institute where my pastor taught the same I used above for hearing congregations. My pastor is a licensed teacher/presenter of Dave Ramsey's Church Program to teach his own congregation to use God's money at God's way.

TRUE FACT:
70% of the Americans DO NOT HAVE SAVING Accounts, they are cash-strapped on deep debt-ridden lifestyle.

I disagreed with them as follow below:

@RichyBlacK -  his quote: "MIT, Harvard, Stanford and Yale are expensive schools and my household income will not qualify for any form of "low income" scholarship".

I am below the upper middle class income but not in poverty class, my household income does qualified me entering my distance university to earn my 2004 BFA degree with 3.9 GPA Summa Cum Laude (not IVY universities, @RichyBlack mentioned above).  My daughter got several scholarships, saving bonds, leadership financial support entering her nursing school last year as well as remaining years that is based on my household income.

@Babs_O - SAVING MONEY do not cause US ECONOMY recession!!! THAT'S TOO BAD for people who are debt-ridden and money spending recklessly without thinking about having SAVING ACCOUNTS using 7 baby steps I mentioned above.

@damola1 - I STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY after my mother taught me about money management when i was 15 years old. Now i am grown adult, my parent now is debt-ridden, crying out seeking for help! It puzzled me!!!    They were the one who always asked me for my money ALL THE TIME. I am sick of it- - -moved out at my own!  My mother is OVERPROTECTIVE, WORRYWART, PARANOID over me facing in a HEARING WORLD, because of MY DEAFNESS she worry about people out there take advantage of me. Now they go taking money management class and financial advisor help at their own.

@Anuli ph - I do live in America to enjoy my life with NO WORRY ABOUT FINANCIAL BURDEN!!! Poor people in America who are debt-ridden pulling their hairs to have lousy money management plan with BAD MORTGAGE, BAD JOBS, and goes on,  Can't wait for my son GETTING OUT OF MY HOUSE 3 more years toward his high school graduation! 

Dave Ramsey is my hero.
I actually read his first book "financial peace" about 10 years ago and it opened my eyes.
His latest book "money makeover" which you quoted is a must read.
I actually applied his principles and I'm glad I did.

_{yes nwando=nwandolina}

spoilt:

Nwando you are right. It is in vogue. he's my Tiger. Lol.

Anyway you are not the only one listed on the cheapness register. I have decided to go cheap. For the first 3 years of my working life i saved nothing. I was young, ridiculously overpaid and was free from all encumbrances. No hangers on, no needy extended family, no kids ,no nothing. Did i save a penny? No! I blew everything. I just bought meaningless stuff that i could very well have done without. I did my hair, my nails, bought clothes and boughts more shoes than i knew what to do with. Then i read the book "The richest man in babylon". Oh my God! The scales fell out of my eyes. A book so simple did the trick. I did a complete turn around. I suddenly had the fear that i would retire without having enough for my arthritic years.
Besides my kids all 12 of must have to get the best education possible. I started saving money. I revell in my cheapness. the best part is that i don't miss those things because for me it's like "been there, done that". I can afford them easily if i want but i don't do stuff that like anymore.
I'm the deranged psycho running around the house turning off all the lights to save on the electricity bill.
My car is a regular car. Nothing fancy. I could easily upgrade but this one takes me to the office and back so it will have to do for now. I don't compromise on food though. My refridgerator is stocked full always. so is my pantry. My sweetie once called me cheap. He does not believe in depriving himself of anything. Good for him. I told him he should be thankful that his wife is prudent. . Anyway i make sure that while im the one denying myself things that the money i save goes into MY account and not into the family purse. How do you say smart woman again?
My mother always told me its not what you wear but how you wear it. A beautiful woman will shine even if dressed in a potato sack. the best thing you can wear is a smile.
when it comes to material stuff ive definitely cut down and im better for it. I have savings. I am ready for tomorrow. no matter what 'Mr Spoilt' decides to spring on me this chick is covered.

Spoilt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My God we almost sound like we are the same person.
I have no regrets for my frugality.
I'm glad to know I'm not alone and that I'm on the right track.

Anuli ph:

Its a good quality.its wise too. I believe in going for the less expensive but quality stuff.
You re not obsessed.Its better for a woman to be frugal than a man.But i hope you know there are things you shouldnt skrimp on.
Once in a while sha, just dig deeper. Go out n buy yourself some [b]manolo blanikhs.[/b]but is it true its a habit/attitude you must develop if you live in America?

I don't even know what they are.
See how out of fashion I am

segedoo:

the richest men in the world have always had very frugal wives. kudos to y'all ladies.

i pledge to return to my spartan saving style ust because you honeys re-ignited it!

I'm glad the ladies have inspired you.
Make sure to keep away from high maintenance chics like trooe/omo eko
unless your greens are flowing from an everlasting source literally

the richest men in the world have always had very frugal wives. kudos to y'all ladies.

i pledge to return to my spartan saving style ust because you honeys re-ignited it!

@ segedoo
have you been wasting money?

@ nwando
maybe i am your sister from another mother. 
Anyway i do not regret my frugality. I like to think that everything i work for is for my child. lets just say that becoming frugal is the best thing ive ever done. Especially in the area of clothes and jewellery. I do not wear gold or diamonds. Ive never cared for them.  I have 4 pairs of piercings on both ears. On most days you'll find in my ears the earrings that they use to pierce the ears of newborns. I'm not kidding you. 

My usual casual attire is jeans and a tank top. All summer long thats my uniform. It looks good and it costs next to nothing. Most people don't even know i'm cheap. They see me all shiny on the outside and don't know im plotting for tomorrow. 

The only thing i will not do is break journey to save money. count me out of things like entering akpruka instead of correct luxurious bus. or breaking a trip to naija into 6 places to save a penny. I no dey do that type.i'm a frail girl and suffering is not on my agenda. 

After all the savings what will you use the money for? I am sure it will be difficult for you to give offering to those in need. TO BE FRANK CHANGE YOUR MENTALITY. You only have one life to live. MY SISTER LIFE IS Bleep'D

nwando baby i dont think ure frugal or obssesed with saving,i think ure just scared of not having something saved up for the rainy day.i think what ure doing is a good thing,wish i could be more like u when it comes to finances.
but girl i think u should splurge once in a while, u know spoil u self a little sometimes [quote][/quote]only the living can save

Nwando, is USA really God's own country? thanx for the many ideas people. money is made to be spend, so invest and get more and spend the same. Happy Sailing.

why make money if you cant spend it saving is good but God forbid if something happens to you what happens to all the savings. if you are married with kids i can understand saving for your children emergencies and all that but really we make money to spend it at least most of it

No, you are not obsessed with saving money. Just like any Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, etc. will tell you, it's not how much you make that will make you a rich or be able to live comfortably, it's how much you can save and invest. I am not to the extreme, however, I lean towards investing and saving quite a bit too. And, that has definitely made a lot of difference in the person I am today. With investing, be it stocks, mutual funds, real estate, you will lose some here and there, however on the long run, you will come out way on top. I would add though, it also helps to have a good job. At least it makes it easier.

spoilt:

@ nwando
maybe i am your sister from another mother.
Anyway i do not regret my frugality. I like to think that everything i work for is for my child. lets just say that becoming frugal is the best thing ive ever done. Especially in the area of clothes and jewellery. I do not wear gold or diamonds. Ive never cared for them. I have 4 pairs of piercings on both ears. On most days you'll find in my ears the earrings that they use to pierce the ears of newborns. I'm not kidding you.

My usual casual attire is jeans and a tank top. All summer long thats my uniform. It looks good and it costs next to nothing. Most people don't even know i'm cheap. They see me all shiny on the outside and don't know im plotting for tomorrow.

The only thing i will not do is break journey to save money. count me out of things like entering akpruka instead of correct luxurious bus. or breaking a trip to naija into 6 places to save a penny. I no dey do that type.i'm a frail girl and suffering is not on my agenda.

WORD!
NO '1414'
If i cant afford to go direct then the journey is postponed till later
No sufferhead for God pikin

Chic! its been awhile how you dey?
by the way where in US do you stay - I may be there in a couple of weeks

@ salsera
My sister longest time. Na you scarce pass. Anyway my nairaland rendevous is off and on these days. Work has been hellish plus I have graduate school. No time to troll through the internet.

So you will be visiting? Where will you be at?