r/Frugal_Ind

I was having discussion with friends where they were talking about guys getting free upgrade in hotels or discount in bars because they were good looking. And about job placements getting affected by how pretty someone is.

And also the people that don't naturally look good have to spend a lot of money to look better.

Like someone starting to bald in their 20s has to spend on minoxidil and other medication. Or someone with lot of acne has to spend lot on skin treatment or products.

What do you think? Does it really affect financially that much?

For many purchases I tend to keep eye on deals and purchase in bulk. I have big family so I do need rations anyways.

For example

1. I found sugar to be 1 rs kg on milkbasket and sometimes 10 rs kg. I purchased 50kg or so. I have year worth of sugar and now cost does not affect me for a year.

2. I found good oil deals around last year diwali in sale.. I purchased a lot of oil in bulk. Of all types. It will go even till this year diwali. I ensured I got good discount..also I got many oil packets on sale on milkbasket

3. Protein. I wait for sale and purchase in bulk. We have 3 protein taking members in family. I purchased whey in bulk for 6 months time. 6 to 9kg. Whenever sale is on. We tend to finish fast.

4. Detergent I buy 40 kg In bulk in last sale around 6 month ago. Now 20 kg is remaining and I might buy another 20kg. I am looking for cheaper options. I find amazon one to be cheaper and equally good quality of rin. So I might buy that 20 kg now.

5. Dryfruits. : I buy 1 kg packet size. From Flipkart I purchased. I purchase very high quality ones but I choose to get most discount using card + size.

Suggest if this strategy is good. What can be improved. How I can save more money.

I don't buy for sake of it. I won't buy anything. I don't go to stores. Now after buying oil in bulk I won't buy untill all in home is finished. We use it in expiry order. We have lot of storage capacity in home. We build it as part of furniture while setting up and I have one extra storage room too. That is why all above is possible.

It is not limited to what mentioned above. Soaps toothpaste toothbrush toilet cleaner floor cleaner. You name it. If it is not going to expire I will never buy small size. I will buy size which is cheapest per unit. And store and use. I bought 5000 tissues . (2500 normal and 2500 face tissues. ) 70+ percent discount. Just another example.

Please comment what improvement you can suggest..

Thanks

I'm 25, no work experience, empty resume, gap years, no skills, I'm in a pathetic situation. Currently wasting my parents money pursuing a masters I could care less about because I've no options.

I would love to live alone, have enough money to pay for the tiniest little room, kitchen, bathroom. Cook what I want, do what I want, date people though I have no plans to marry(kinda grew up controlled and sheltered so a lot of basic things in life my parents heavily monitored). Mostly i just want infinite free time to read, draw, sing, workout, instead of being an exhausted corporate slave who has no real life outside work.

I want to be something, I want to create beautiful things, I'm not ready to give any of this up. I've no interest in going out, going to cafes, buying clothes, or most of these consumerist activities. I find most of these activites lame, no shade to anyone who likes them, I just don't prefer any of it. Kinda don't have friends either because most people aren't worth bothering with and I get bored socializing.

I'd rather stay home and do my hobbies instead of going to work and pretending to be some important adult. I don't want to be anybody. I just want to exist, imagine, find the world fascinating, be curious and creative, and just experience the world on my own terms.

I feel like I'm stuck in a system I had no say in being in, in the first place. I deleted most social media other than reddit years ago. I ocassionally scroll linkedin in even though I hate it. I see all my classmates flaunting their internships, projects and certifications and I just get this empty feeling like people are really doing whatever they can to get a job in one of these wretched company and I'm doing nothing.

I just feel so alienated. Anyone else?

I just got offer letter from my dream company. This year has been dream for me. Start of this year I was having salary of 6 lakhs per year and got 12 lakhs salary job in january. Now gotten offer for 27 lakhs salary in same year.

I have got chance to reset my mistakes in life. I bought car few months back and have 16 lakhs loan and emi 25000 for 7 years. Father have 8 lakhs of loan and I have to pay it.

Now I will try pay everything in 2 years only and not take any more loans.

Never thought I will be able to pay all loans. Father is more happy than me because his loans will be paid fast now.

Last 6 months it was so difficalt to breathe because of so much loans.

I met 3 girls whose families sent us marriage proposals till now. The dates are always good. Sometimes too good and get to physical things. But whenever we finally talk about money, I get rejected.

No one wants to be frugal. Everyone wants grand weddings and lavish honeymoon trips to foreign places.

And I am here with 15 lakhs loan on car and living paycheck to paycheck. I have only 1 lakh savings and my dad has 8 lakhs in loans which I need to pay too.

One person even suggested to me that both families can take loan for big wedding and after marriage we can take loan to go on foreign trip.

It has been 3 years since i went on any trip because i cant afford

Should I just give up frugalness and get married and then try to convince slowly?

We already know about medicines. Saw a thread a few days ago discussing the price differences between branded groceries and store brands from places like Amazon, Flipkart, D Smart etc.

It got me thinking about other household staples. For me, it's Vim liquid and Phenyl from Nimyl etc. The generic or store-brand dish washes or phenyl always seem watered down.

What are some items where you refuse to buy the generic or loose version because the name brand is actually noticeably better?

[supprimé]

I have been having a hard time buying a car for a while, my budget is 2.5L max and my mother wants to buy a new car(6L) as she says she will pay the rest of it in emi by herself (she is a housewife so idk how she plans to pay the emi every-month)

I wanted to buy a used alto/honda/eon anything good to learn driving and just for basic chores, but my mother won’t understand and has constantly been denying saying that second hand cars come with a lot of issues, I tried explaining that we will need to get a mechanics to check the car and then buy but she won’t understand.

The thing is, my father never bought a car and he can easily afford a 6L car but he won’t buy one and since my mother has always wanted one I was willing to buy one second hand and then get an electric car within 5-6 years. I have even asked my dad to split the car but he refuses, her happiness means nothing to him it seems.

What should I do? Should I go for the emi and get a new car or just get a second hand one even tho she won’t be happy with it. I keep feeling bad thinking money will come and go but she always wanted a car ughh

I grew up in a lower middle class family that judged people on their clothes, vehicles, status and whatnot

If someone wore faded clothes, my parents treated treated or called them beggars. If someone had a cheap car like maruti 800 or alto or wagonr, again they used to call them poor or beggars.

The thing is my parents have less net worth than poor or beggars because it is in negative. Whenever I pointed that out I use to get screamed on.

Now I have grew up with same mindset. And I judge people based on what they do or wear or buy to even what they eat.

How to get rid of this mindset? I have tried, but I am not able to. Even though I try to be frugal and do the same things that I judge others on

I see so much villainization of the Insta lifestyle on this sub and many others that I want to share my opinion about it.

The lifestyle I’m talking about - Travelling, fine dining/Cafe hopping, Partying, expensive purchases like watches and vehicles and household stuff, ludicrous self care practices, fancy hobbies, etc.

Firstly, delete your Instagram account 🙂

Now that’s out of the way, here’s why you should absolutely do all of these… It’s Because… There’s Nothing inherently wrong with any of them. In fact, a lot of them are amazing on an isolated level. Whether or not they’re amazing for you is a different discussion that you need to have with Yourself once you try them.

People here are somehow confusing what they see being done on instagram to be the same as being financially irresponsible.

There’s a difference between doing something fun and doing something performative. Just because someone’s doing something performative doesn’t inherently make that thing bad or irresponsible for You.

The most financially irresponsible thing you can do is to not get your money’s worth within the limited time you’ve got to live.

And you absolutely won’t get your money’s worth, if you don’t allow yourself to explore things that you might absolutely fall in love with.

Whether you want to travel the west or eat at a new fancy restaurant every week or you want to have an expensive hobby or collect stuff, or buy a fancy vehicle, you should absolutely try all of it at some point.

The only financial aspect in all of this is HOW to afford what you want to do. And that is exactly what Frugality is about.

Frugality is about how you can get yourself to a position to afford stuff you Want to do without sacrificing on things that matter more.

There is absolutely an expiry date for experiences. Things you should have experienced in your teens are not something you can experience in your 20s or 30s. Similarly there’s a lot of things you can experience in your 20s that might not be feasible in your 30s or 40s.

Frugality should buy you the freedom to explore instead of buying you deprivation.

Frugality should allow you to live the Instagram life, but on YOUR budget.