With the holidays I’m sure everyone is busier than ever. It’s tough time to be running around, getting ready for travel, buying/sending gifts, etc. Also maybe meeting with friends before the new year rolls around, and thus less time to cook and prepare meals. I was commenting last night during dinner that a lot of my coworkers are eating out everyday and been inviting me more and more with the holiday spirit.
I rarely eat out for lunch and I haven’t done it since August with my DH. Personally I’m way to busy and darn it, honestly who wants to go out when it’s cold! They are nuts! I don’t feel like putting on my jacket, hat, scarf to walk outside and get a meal. I’d rather sit and enjoy a quick bite and get home a bit sooner.
But that aside, my DH commented that the people I work with earn very low incomes and yet live like Kings. He said maybe they work so hard they don’t have time to cook. Maybe, but living in a HCOLA and starting wage is $30k-36k gross? I don’t know what they are thinking. Eating out 2 meals a day at $10/meal is $20/day and $600/month! That’s a hefty chunk of change.
My DH commented that perhaps it’s because they earn so little and thus are not frugal. If they were frugal they would go out and get jobs that paid a realistic wage for their education and career levels. Instead because they are bad at saving they are bad at realizing they need more income to save. Then he said that rich people get rich, not by nickel and diming, but realizing they should maximize their earning potential and save. They typically are frugal, but they are striving to earn more so they don’t have to worry so much about saving.
It’s an interesting perspective. That people who are good with saving are always looking for more income. To live on and to save. But people bad with money, are satisfied with a lot less. They don’t care if they save or spend beyond their means and most don’t even realize they have to save for retirement.
A graduate student friend of my DH’s in graduate school, recently became a professor. When we were graduate school together he always made a lunch as well. He thought my DH extremely financially savvy, by having cokes under his desk and selling them for a $1 to people too lazy to walk to the soda machine. He said how difficult is it to buy luncheon meat, cheese, a head of lettuce, mayo and bread, leave it in the fridge weekly and make a sandwich daily to save money and time by not eating out? He became a professor by age 30.
So perhaps there is a correlation between frugality and making a higher wage? What do you think?
12 responses so far ↓
1 Kristy // Dec 19, 2008 at 9:12 am
While I have no idea if there is an actual correlation, I do think it is true of the people I know and are friends with. The ones that make the most money are the more frugal and the ones that do not make as much, live paycheck to paycheck. I have also noted that the people that make more $$ are always striving to become more educated and to maximize their income.
I acknowledge that this is not always the case, but with the people that I am friends with it is true.
2 savvy // Dec 19, 2008 at 9:35 am
I don’t think there’s any correlation. There are many, many people who have high salaries and still live above their means.
3 dogatemyfinances // Dec 19, 2008 at 11:18 am
I’ve found that a lot of people who eat lunch out every day don’t as much other socializing as I do.
That is, I have had some pretty high bar and dinner tabs. Can’t do that so much with kids, so lunch it is, for them.
4 fengshui // Dec 19, 2008 at 12:24 pm
“If they were frugal they would go out and get jobs that paid a realistic wage for their education and career levels”
This isn’t always true. I have many friends that have masters degrees, but work for non-profits, such as being a nurse practitioner at a free clinic, and she could easily be making twice what she does, but she loves her job, and feels like she is “making the world a better place”…. So, not everyone is greedy and only sees the $ at the end…. I’m in the middle of that road. I want to be compensated fairly for my education, but I still want to love my job. I could probably get a job in middle or upper level managament at an insurance company and make 6 figures, but I don’t want to sell my soul to the devil.
As far as a connection of high salary and being frugal. I can say that I am becoming more frugal as I am begining to earn more. I think that it is because I was disillusioned when I was younger, where I thought that I could use my cc’s in college because I’ll be “making good money when I graduate” and I’ll pay those right off. Well, it is easier said than done when you compound that by buying a new car and living in an overpriced apartment. So, I am learning, later than most (I’m 32), that debt sucks and I don’t want to have any, or at least very little….
5 FruWiki Meg // Dec 19, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I think that people who are frugal are in a better position to make better salaries because they can afford to do things like invest in better education, start a business, or even just work for less in the short term because they know that they’ll make more in the long term on that path.
I know plenty of friends who live paycheck to paycheck and would love to make more money but simply can’t afford the schooling it would take go to get a better job. Sometimes the cost of training is only a few thousand dollars, but quitting work to take the classes is a greater expense and risk.
But of course, a lot of people are frugal because they know that doing what they want to do means living on less. Perhaps those are the richest people of all.
6 LivingAlmostLarge // Dec 19, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Kristy these people are very well educated but not driven by money. MDs/Phd galore but not much income.
And Savvy, I agree people who make a lot can live beyond their means easily! It’s easy to get sucked into a lifestyle.
Dog interesting about not going out to dinner with kids. But if they have kids, are they spending money that could be saved for other purposes? Or are they well off enough to afford everything?
Fengshui, most of these people have finished a md or phd and years of training. They are not making even as much as your friends, the starting salary is $30k. Yep that’s right $30k in a HCOLA. They definitely should go out and get jobs with commensurate pay. It’s ridiculous to think that they can long term live on that salary. We’re talking people who could be making easily 2-3x that amount but choosing not to.
Meg agreed. One thing I’ve found is that even without more education you can make more money. You can make yourself more valuable at work and get raises. There is also constantly networking to find a better paying job. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
Participating in toastmasters improves public speaking skills and presentation skills. It’s free and a great way to network. So is going to business meetings, or things like Women in Science. I’ve done both and so does my DH. Networking is a great way to find a position that might pay more or pay for you to get more educated.
7 Kristy // Dec 19, 2008 at 2:36 pm
You noticed that I said “of the people I know” right?
8 TStrump // Dec 19, 2008 at 6:05 pm
It’s true about rich people – many seem ‘cheap’ but in actual fact, they’re just maximizing their earning potential.
They know that hard times can hit and that you have to make as much money as you can when the opportunity arises.
10 Fabulously Broke // Dec 23, 2008 at 7:12 pm
People with money don’t spend it because they know how hard it is to earn $1 (takes $2 – $3 sometimes)
People without money or are ‘bad’ with money feel defeated and hopeless.
I’ve been there in both situations.
Having money and learning more about how it’s a tool rather than a problem to get, makes you more optimistic that you can earn more because you’ve saved enough for a cushion to make the right decisions.
Builds confidence when you see the results of of saving and being frugal.
But if you aren’t confident with yourself, your skills… you don’t think you can make more, even if you can… it becomes the problem.
BF and I know tons of people like that.
And then those people just spend and feel helpless because they can’t see the forest for the trees.
12 LivingAlmostLarge // Dec 31, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Yep Kristy. I’ve found some of the best savers are those with less education. They know how to make do with less. My grandmother knows how to stretch a buck!
But maybe it is looking at the situation and deciding if it’s hopeless.
The 157th Festival of Frugality: The Queen’s Speech Edition | Miss Thrifty - Dec 23, 2008
Cheap Dollar Meals, Money Management Help For Teens, Frugal Tips - Dec 29, 2008
Leave a Comment