Hi there, Mrs. 1500 once again. Longtime readers will remember that in June, we moved from a neighborhood that did not suit us, to a new neighborhood that does. In the old neighborhood, success was measured by how much money you could spend. We were not considered successful there. We have our own definition of success, and that is to have money, but not seem like it. Here are a few examples of recent interactions that let me know we have succeeded:
Uglyhouse
Our new house is not without issues. It is small. Very small. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom plus kitchen and living room and an extra whatever room. We are making improvements, and have found someone to help out. Halfway through re-siding the house, we decided we wanted to add onto the extra whatever room by making it two stories. When we told this to our contractor, he got a quote from Home Depot and told us we all needed to talk before he placed the order. He went through the quote, section by section and at the end, when the total was $14,000, he said it twice, and commented, “I just want you to know how much it is going to cost, before we place the order and you get upset and say that wasn’t the original price we discussed.” The tone in his voice made it seem as though he didn’t think we had very much money.
Much of this is probably due to Mr. 1500 laboring for hours on end in the hot sun doing stuff like digging post holes and moving heavy stuff. If the guy had any money, he surely wouldn’t be doing stuff like this. Success!
Neighbors
When we first moved in, one of the new neighbors across the street came over with some homemade chocolate chip cookies and we chatted for a bit. She asked us if we were renting (it had been a rental before it went into foreclosure) and when we said we had purchased it, she replied “Good for you!” in an excited way that told me she also didn’t think we had much money. Success!
Realtor
When we were searching for this house, we had initially given our price range as fairly low. We saw a house that was interesting on paper, but priced at $540K. When we told our realtor we wanted to see it, she asked if it was in our price range. The way she phrased it told me she thought I was way out of my price range. Success!
Little 1500 and a not so new Bike
Our 6-year-old just learned how to ride a bike in the past couple of weeks*. She has just about outgrown her little bike and I told her that after she learned, she could get a bigger bike. As soon as she was able to balance, she exclaimed, “I can balance! Time for a new bike!” My reply was, “Correct, where should we get it from?” She replied with, “A thrift store or garage sale would be fine.” Success!
Spendy Sister no More
My sister came for a visit recently, and was commenting on our new house, which is way smaller and far less nice than the previous two. She said because of us, she has started thinking before she spends. “Do I really need another pair of shoes?” “Do I want to spend $400 on that purse? The last time I did that, I didn’t like it any more than the cheaper purses I have…” Success, success, SUCCESS!!! This is actually a major success, because she is quite trendy, and to be trendy you have to be spendy. She is now shopping in thrift stores and thinking about her purchases before she makes them. If you knew her, you would know how successful this really is.
Mr. 1500 here to quickly chimes in with a couple tales:
What I’ve realized, at least in my own little sphere of friends and family, is that the people who look rich are not. On the flip-side, sometimes, the people who dress like hobos have massive nest eggs. Two examples come to mind:
Broke BMW Man breaks his Beast: A good friend buys $100 jeans and fancy cars. (Mrs. 1500 note: Mr. 1500 is completely out of touch with fashion, and truly believes $100 jeans are among the more expensive jeans out there. He buys his at Costco. Still name brand, but he spends about $20 on a pair, and they are literally strings when he finally tosses them out.) He crashed his BMW last year, causing $7,000 worth of damage and was freaking out about his insurance going up. I said, “Just pay for it out of your own pocket if you are so concerned.” His response was, “Who do you think I am, Howard Hughes? I don’t have that kind of money.” Hmm, if you don’t even have 7K in an emergency fund, you probably shouldn’t be financing $50,000 cars.
Sir Silly Sock Sweatband Head: A couple summers ago, I went to visit a relative. I pulled up to the house and noticed the guy mowing the lawn and wearing what looked like a turban. This person definitely doesn’t associate with any religion or culture that would require him to wear such a thing, so I was extremely puzzled. Why on earth was he mowing the lawn with this thing on? When I got closer, I noticed that he had made a sweatband by tying a bunch of old socks around his head**. Sir Silly Sock Sweatband*** probably has more money than anyone I’ve ever known. Yet, he changes his own oil and re-purposes old socks. I’m not even going to tell you what becomes of old underwear. Maybe Mrs. 1500 will tell…
*Want a super easy way to teach your kid how to ride a bike? Take the pedals off with a $10 pedal wrench and let them balance bike for a while. Once your child has the hang of this, throw the pedals back on. They’ll almost be able to ride right away. I was amazed how well it worked!
**I really, really, really wish that I had a picture of this, but I don’t.
***I am frugal, but my frugality knows bounds. If you ever see me pulling a stunt like this, you know that I’ve gone off the deep end. Send me away.
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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Oh, please post a pic of the sock headband!
Sir Silly Sock Sweatband Head is my dad. He grew up one of 7 kids who lived in a 2-bedroom house (there was a lot of space between some of the kids but still…) and they had no money ever. He will try to find something that will fit his needs around the house before he will spend a dime on anything. He has also made headbands out of hand towels, duct taping them across the back so they stayed in place. He sweats profusely, and dropping $5 on a headband would be money well spent. Although he does sweat so profusely, the socks and hand towels actually work better for him.
I just re-read that response, and it sounds kind of snotty. I was laughing when I typed some of it, remembering my dad, who pulled down 6 figures at his last job before retirement, with an impressive bonus on top of that, working on my first condo with that hand towel headband. I may be able to take a picture of Mr. 1500 wearing it…
Love this post, 1500’s. You have 2 things going for you. 1) people that think you’re financial status is on the brink of collapse are going to be more concerned and compassionate toward you and 2) you are going to start rubbing off on those who know you are on very solid financial ground. Success!
Buck recently posted…Why I need to change my blog’s tagline
Thanks Buck! If you knew my sister, you would know what an astonishing success that truly was.
When the airlines first started charging for checked baggage, she said “I wipe my (backside) with $25. I don’t care about that, I don’t want to carry it on the plane with me.” ?!?! First off, let me trade my toilet paper for what you use. Second, why would you WANT to wait for baggage???
My wife’s aunt noticed a similar kind of success that’s dependent on perceptions of wealth. They own both a BMW and a beater car, and she noticed that whenever she drove up to a supplier’s place in the BMW she couldn’t get a discount on anything. She’d haggle and negotiate, but get nowhere. But in the beater, she could get discounts. So now she plans her vehicle choice for the day around where she’s going, and whether she’ll try to haggle. It’s curious how much better you can do if you select a certain persona.
Done by Forty recently posted…Is it Moral to Let a Sucker Keep His Money?
I can see why they wouldn’t give a discount to someone driving a BMW. If you have that kind of money, why should I take less for my product? Good for her that she even noticed in the first place.
The first time Mr PoP met the owner of my company, we had just happened to run into him at the local mall. As we walked away from the encounter Mr PoP whispered to me, “I really thought he was a homeless guy at first”. Haha, couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies recently posted…Understand Your Goals AKA Car Chargers For Everyone!
That is awesome! I hope people think I’m homeless too!
Love this post. We have had many people think that we are not successful because we SAVE our money and our frugal in certain ways.
Michelle recently posted…Fun Things to do in St. Louis – FinCon Fun!
I am quite certain the people in our last neighborhood are convinced we moved because we couldn’t afford it.
First off, I love this post. ‘Sir Silly Sock Sweatband Head’ *giggles*
“What I’ve realized, at least in my own little sphere of friends and family, is that the people who look rich are not. On the flip-side, sometimes, the people who dress like hobos have massive nest eggs.”
I’ve noticed this too. When Mr. FWTWO and I were just starting off and had literally nothing, I used to get jealous of the material possessions that others had. I knew we couldn’t afford it. Now that we can afford these things and choose not to, I look at those that engage in mindless consumerism and assume that they have messed up priorities or they’re racking up pointless debt. After years of working for banks Mr. FWTWO said that usually people who didn’t look like they had money actually did. While those who looked like they had money actually had a pile of debt.
I love that you are striving to have money, but not seem like you do because your not flaunting it. That’s an admirable goal. You’ll be the quiet, unassuming millionaire next door.
Mrs. FWTWO recently posted…Case Study – The Man Who Hated His Job (but refused to quit)
My sister used to be a social worker, but after about 5 years, she had to quit. She was tired of handing out rent-assistance checks and free food to people who drove to the center in a much nicer car, wore designer clothes, and were dripping in gold jewelry. While she wanted to live within her means, it gets tough to see people getting handouts for everyday expenses while wasting money on things that don’t matter. I have friends I will never convince. One actually said “I like to plan vacations. I will figure out how to pay for it later.” WHAT?!?
I don’t want to diminish your sister’s life experience with the welfare system. But my wife & I lived on social assistance for awhile, and as such we have a different take on it.
Yes, the system is abused by some. But had the system not been there when we needed it there is simply no way either of us would have finished college. The truth is that without that assistance we would likely be living in massive debt today while working a sub-$10/hr jobs.
There are many others like us who used the system for what it is – a tool to help you through a tough time – and then go on to become productive members of society.
Mr. & Mrs. FWTWO recently posted…Tit-for-Tat Spending Leaves Us All Poor – by Mrs. FWTWO
I don’t want to discount your sister’s professional experience from years of working with receiver’s of social assistance, but I do want to say that this was not our experience.
When we were just starting off we received assistance from social programs. Without this assistance we probably would not have finished college and would most likely have a mountain of debt behind us while working $10/hr jobs.
There are many others like us that use these programs as they are intended, as a tool to help during difficult times, and then go on to become productive members of society.
Mr. & Mrs. FWTWO recently posted…Tit-for-Tat Spending Leaves Us All Poor – by Mrs. FWTWO
This is a pretty great comment! I must remember to call you out in next Tuesday’s post!
Opps, I guess we responded to you twice 🙂 We typed something up which didn’t look like it posted so we submitted another response. Oh-well.
Thanks for the compliment on our comment though. 🙂
Mr. & Mrs. FWTWO recently posted…Tit-for-Tat Spending Leaves Us All Poor – by Mrs. FWTWO
I think it’s awesome! I have a frugal mindset. And I think it’s rubbing off on my husband! This is great considering he came from a family that has always tried to keep up with the joneses.
SavvyFinancialLatina recently posted…How to Cruise the Right Way
Every little bit helps.
So much success! I definitely got a giggle out of the $100 jeans comment :).
That’s awesome that you have been able to positively influence your family. It’s much easier said than done…
Erin @ My Alternate Life recently posted…Times They Are a Changing
I laughed when I read Mr. 1500’s comment about $100 jeans, too.
I laughed when I read Mr. 1500’s comment about $100 jeans, too. And if you knew my sister, you would be even more impressed that she thinks before she spends…
1500!!! I thought I was doing my part when I began using old socks for rags. Sir SSS makes me look like a prima donna. And so glad to see Spendy Sis coming around! Fam members rarely improve, so this is BIG! Have a honker of a Tuesday!
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Sir SSS would use anything as a rag. When working on the cars, he would cut off the toes, and put them on his arms to keep the oil off his skin. Then after he was done, he would wash the dishes by hand to get all the yuck out from underneath his fingernails so he didn’t look like a grease monkey when he was at work. What, exactly did he use as rags? Old t-shirts, socks, old UNDERPANTS! My sister started cutting her underpants into little bits before throwing them away so he wouldn’t dig them out of the trash to use them!
That’s so great that you have influenced your sister to think before spending! It’s so awesome when we are able to encourage those close to us to be more conscious of spending and to think about what is really important in life. That was also a great and cute response from your 6-year-old! They’re learning fast!
E.M. recently posted…Vacation Budget Review
Both little 1500’s preface any purchase request with “…if it’s on sale, or at a thrift store, could we buy…” I love it!
Love it! My step-aunt and uncle are the epitome of frugal. People would think they are broke (she brings her own tea bags to restaurants and asks for a glass of hot water) based on the way they save and spend. Ironically they probably have more money than most of my step-family combined because they’ve lived such a humble life.
KK @ Student Debt Survivor recently posted…$130 Saved My Relationship
I wonder if your old neighbors know how much your portfolio is exploding this year!!
Todd @ Fearless Dollar recently posted…Why Men Need to be Fearless with Their Dollar
I don’t think they would believe it if we told them.
Success is such an amazing thing and totally a viewpoint thing. I love when people say i’m cheap, to me it is them acknowledging that I manage my money better than they do. The things I am called cheap for are trivial like spending less than $100 a week in groceries whilst my colleagues discuss $350 grocery bills normally with comments like ‘we can never do that, try having kids’. I don’t get it, you’re feeding human beings…not elephants. What can you possibly spend $350 on???? If that is cheap…I love it.
We’ll done 1500’s, I admire your level of success…..I like the bit about the housing budget, we will hopefully be in this position soon and we will ‘choose’ to spend an awful lot less than what the bank will say we can afford to pay them in interest.
Great post 1500! I do have a sister too that always buy a new pair of sandals, a jeans or even a blouse. And I always tell her that buying unnecessary things is just a waste of money and I hope she will listen to me “hopefully”
Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way recently posted…Make Money in Eye Care
Great stories! I also have seen subtle influence spreading among friends. One in particular turned his entire life upside-down. Love it!
It is quite odd how people judge based on externalities. I have seen completely different behavior among contractors that came to my old tiny house vs. my current large house with a view of the water. I can just feel the price going up when the truck pulls up. Frustrating! I can’t wait to downsize like you guys did. Just need a few more years, I think!
Pretired Nick recently posted…What is the best way to invest $100,000?
Congrats on the great successes! We just love that people are taking notice of our new frugal lifestyles, and we are so lucky that our “new” old house is on a street full of people just like us (only, being in farm country, there’s lots more elbow space in between our houses). We’re all famously frugal together, and apparently, from what we’re told, our street is known in our town as the “Rich people’s street”. Hoping the good luck, I mean, the frugal habits that lead to wealth, will continue to rub off on us. 🙂
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