Ten Reasons That You're Living BEYOND Your Means (& Staying Broke)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- I tell you ten things that can indicate that you are living beyond your budget.
Frugal Queen in France
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We are a British couple living in Brittany on a budget.
Frugal recipes, days out, home renovations and day to day making do in France.
We’ll give you hints, tips, advice and an insight into our life in France.
Website www.frugalqueeninfrance.com/
FaceBook / frugalqueeni. .
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Twitter / batt_jane
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Jane I’ve followed you for a long time now from back in Cornwall when you use to write your old blog. I was a newly single parent to a little boy with a mortgage that fell to me to pay and me only as well as other household bills.
I am not exaggerating when I say this but your blog was my lifeline. When reading it it felt like you were sat next to me with a cup of tea telling me that with a few tweaks here and there I could do it on my own. I felt confident, I changed my financial mindset and lifestyle to be honest and managed just fine on my part time wage.
I still live well below my means today and these videos you and Mike create are so helpful in these testing times.
Thank you
Thanks very much for your kind words
Don’t lend money you can’t afford to lose or to friend you don’t want to lose
Good advice
Listening to the 10 mistakes reminded me of the anxiety that comes with debt and not managing my money. I recently retired and that would not have been possible if I had debt. Living frugally and keep an eye on my finances allows for so much freedom and peace.
Thanks Loretta
Congratulations! Enjoy your retirement :)
I was that person who was lending money to friends. Damaged a lot of relationships when I was trying to get my money back. Don't do it anymore and don't feel guilty for that. 10 years later same old friends still owe me money. Moreover, one of them phoned recently asking to lend money. When I refused I was shocked at what I heard in response about myself, like I am the person who makes children starve. My suggestion is to sell their car was taken like as an insult.
That's not a friend
You stood on the edge of the slippery slope, my friend, and paid a big price. You sound like a kind, albeit misguided, decent person. Just DON’T loan (or borrow) money to anyone. It’s impossible to live up to other’s unrealistic expectations of you.
Best advice we got when raising our kids was, you can borrow for college but you can’t borrow for retirement. We paid what we could for our kids but they needed to work and take out loans themselves. Thankfully they have great jobs and make enough to pay their student loans . We are completely debt free and living our best life with money in the bank! Unlike other family who took out huge loans for their kids, kids didn’t work in college and none of them are working in their field or barely making enough. Brother in law had to sell house of 30 yrs , moved to crappy area just so they could have a lower mortgage due to all their debt. Oh and they made more money than us.
Thanks for watching
I was born post WWII into a normal working class family. The number one rule was no debt. No never-never, HP, work and save. I had to retire early because of ill health. I had a small mortgage, two homes, and a good pension. Every penny I worked for, from the age of 12 with my first saturday job. I worked all my holidays as a student to make up for no parental support. It looks like i have lived an exemplary life, financially. But guess what - when offfered a £6 pcm phone contract to replace my £10 payg I got rejected on the credit check as I didn't have a history of debt! 😂
Thanks for watching
It is a quarter to nine in the evening, and my work for the day is almost finished. I am canning the leftover apples after making seven little (6 inch) apple pies. Earlier today, I shovelled compost, soil and peat moss, mixed them up and transplanted eight cucumber plants that had outgrown their pots. They are already flowering, and I even saw two little baby cucumbers. That is in addition to the regular routine of feeding five cats, three rabbits, one husband, watering the greenhouse, etc. I have arthritis in both knees, my spine and right hand and cannot take pain relievers, so some things are done with gritted teeth. While filling the jars, I was thinking about what you said...basically "neither a borrower nor a lender be", as the old saying goes. You are absolutely right. Why should I, who has made do or done without in order to keep body and soul together, subsidize those who can't be bothered to learn how to preserve food or cook from scratch?
I always ask myself what would Jane and Mike do, last week I told my daughter that when we go out with the children I will be taking my food and drink with me for a picnic, and if she does not want to do this that's ok, they can go and buy food, but I'm not, they are struggling money wise at the moment so I'm hoping this will help her, and what child doesn't love a picnic , thank you both for you wisdom .
The one thing my son and I will argue about is my trying to help him budget. This started with his first job at 15 years old ( he is 32)He is always in debt and always needs money. I am going to stop enabling him.
Thank you for another great video.
Thank you for all your honest help. Your being so real truly helps me see what I need to do and gives me encouragement to continue doing it. You and Mike have been a blessing to me since I found your channel!
Thanks Martha
The advice on lending money was on the mark. I can't remember how many people borrowed from me that didn't repay. My fault for not saying no, And offering real help instead.
Thanks very much for your feedback
Biggest financial mistake: years ago, I took money out of my 401K. I was ill and out of work. It took months for the doctors to diagnose lyme disease and tick-borne co-infections. And then months to get better. We really needed the money. I did not want to use credit cards and go into debt. However, I now understand how much I hurt my retirement savings by taking that money out.
Plus a shitty all for profit non tax funded medical system !
Oh my, I could check off all 10 boxes, glad I got out from under all the stress of being a single parent. It taught me how to value material things differently and savings is the main goal. Best wishes on your upcoming week.
Thanks for sharing
Thank God 😊 for the miracle of wisdoms. You survived a crisis Goodness now you inspire others. Please keep us informed about frugal living Thank you dearly. I'm 61yrs and have lived on a disability Pension since my mid 30s. When it came to money 💰 My head has been in the clouds over the years. Oh grief 😔 I've now been inspired by frugal channel. Since mid last year I have stockpiled food. Have a buffer and emergency fund. I don't want to sell my things as I like my decor as it is. I gift 🎁 ☺ and save now. I'm very frugal and optimistic now. It's never a lost cause and never too late to make improvements. Blessings to us all in the frugal journeys of each ones The sun is shining today.
Spot on! Especially about using credit cards as an emergency fund. We used to do exactly that.
So did we and it kept us broke.
One point you had touched on in an earlier vlog was your vigilant attention to maintaining what you already have so you can extend its life and keep stuff out of landfills. That surely goes hand in hand with your thrift, and must save you lots of money. Keep up the great work. People need to know this lifestyle is doable and rewarding!
Thanks very much
Doable and very rewarding. Nothing feels better than the stress being lifted from your head when you are debt free, own your home outright and have well funded emergency and sinking funds. You can sleep at night and enjoy your life during the day without the worry that debt and lack of savings brings. Things won’t change overnight but if you stick with frugal living and chipping away using every spare penny to payoff debt then build up savings you will reap the rewards and the satisfaction that you turned your self around. Friends and family laugh at me for some of my frugal ways but I don’t care, I am the one who can afford to treat myself to a coffee out if I choose to without feeling guilty and without robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Hello from Puerto Rico. Your video is so true. Will share with family and friends. Living mortgage and debt free. ☺️
Thanks Judith
I will echo what others have said, that your honesty and openness about being in debt and how you worked to be free of your debt and mortgage are really inspiring. My son finishes school in two years, the same time my OH reaches sixty. We have a mortgage and are continuing to chip every little bit off it that we can. Much as I would love for us to be mortgage-free in two years and for my OH to retire early - planned retirement age is 67! - I am a realist. We need to keep debts to zero and to continue to pay all our bills, keep savings for heating oil and car costs and have an emergency fund. Plus public sector pay is not great and pensions have been eroded and pension schemes changed, they no longer offer the comfortable amounts my father was able to benefit from (early 1990s). But we will be getting there, and that makes us very fortunate.
Thanks for watching
If you started paying into a public sector pension scheme and they are trying to retrospectively change it you are entitled to your benefits as before see the McCloud ruling it might help you I'm 55 and am just about to take nhs pension taking advantage of McCloud ruling that was in Scotland but I don't think nhs pensions differ in England
@Sarah Macrae Thank you. We were reading through the McCloud ruling earlier today and appears to be good news for my OH. We were having a "sorting finances" day, he was on flexi leave just so we could catch up with this x
That’s wonderful you and your partner are on the same page. My partner has zero financial sense and I’m exhausted from a decade of monitoring his wild spending and have given up lol. Everyman for themselves in my household…unfortunately.
I’m sorry to hear that
Thank you Jane, I look forward to every video you release as they really help keep me focused on becoming debt free and also help me to keep my husband inspired and focused on achieving our financial freedom.
We have made every mistake multiple times and have no retirement fund other than what we are personally building into our home ready to downsize and save the equity for retirement.
We have finally made a huge change in our lifestyle 5 years ago and are now seeing the results. I nearly went crazy with the stress before our change of approach.
We convey your wisdom to our children at every opportunity😊.
Keep going Tracy, frugal living is the answer
Hello from Romania. Can't wait to start❤
I Hope that you enjoy the video
Good for you 👍Being retired means I can't make too many financial mistakes: fixed income and all, because my
fixed expenses still goes up (i.e. house/car insurance, electricity, internet, heating, medical benefits, taxes, snow removal, septic tank clean, chimney clean, tire change). Thank goodness I know how to cook from scratch so I can save on food!
Thanks for watching and commenting
We had our years of struggle. but proud to say we've been mortgage and debt free since 2005. Nothing beats the freedom of being debt and mortgage free. 'Definitely worth the sacrifices needed to get to this point! Thank you for sharing your experience!
You're so right
So much truth Jane.
I've been there. In debt, using my credit card like it's free money, not saving and paying for services that were expensive like a satellite dish and cellphone. Something clicked in me when I realized I didn't want to be in debt as a retired person. Your videos really help keep me on track. Thanks so much. 😊
Thanks Emily
Yes mortgage free in ten years by paying a hundred dollars extra a month, putting our tax refunds and Christmas money towards our mortgage as well. Thanks for another great video ❤️
Thanks for watching
It seems experience is often the best teacher. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Perhaps it will help others avoid these pitfalls. // We started out married life fairly broke. The work arounds we learned, (even the odd ones), are still practiced almost without thinking. They enable us to squirrel away some for retirement, now that we're in a better situation.
Thanks for watching and commenting
Great advice! Deserves repeating! Thank you for taking your time and sharing with us. 🇺🇸
Thanks for watching
People still believe that they need to eat 3 meals a day and each meal has to be healthy and contain meat. One of the really big reason people are living beyond there means is they don't make enough money to have the items that they want. Like running water, electricity, air conditioner. In the U.S. it's just a part of the norm to believe that everyone has a smart phone and the internet. We have whole sections of the country that don't have electricity. People believe that actually need these things. I'm not trying to be funny, it's just what people believe is "normal" isn't. I live in a poor neighborhood and it's not a big thing for a neighbor to come over asking to "borrow" some clean water. So much is just taken for granted that you have a need for the basics, or what society thinks is the basics is skewed. You need water, you don't need running water to your house, or electricity. It's funny to me when I watch some of these "save money and live frugal" that the amount of money your dealing with is more than some of the incomes we have is triple what we live on. Many of people hear live on 700 a month, stop whining, save your money and reevaluate what you think is "normal".
Thanks for your honesty in sharing your story - I am sure many people will find it an inspiration 😊
Thanks very much
Jane and Mike I love your story! Very inspirational! Thank you for the great content you bring!
Thanks for watching
Hi Jane, great video as always
It was lovely to hear about your journey. I remember reading your old blog as you went through it. It was so inspirational, every single post helped to keep me on the right path to becoming debt free myself. I'm forever grateful 😊
Thanks for the feedback
Always great advice👍🏴
Thanks very much
Your story is inspirational but also very similar to our story too! Such great advice and hope people learn from this. The feeling of no mortgage or debt is so comforting in this high priced world! Thank you Jane.
Thanks Heather
Your story of five years lazer-focused paying off debt is very inspiring, thanks for sharing.
Plus the rest of our lives focused frugality and saving
I made all these mistakes in the past but no regrets. I wanted so much to put my kids in the best schools possible, and they are not cheap, UpTo their college years the needed allowance tuition , dorms, I will get the best even though it is beyond my means. We went on trips even Disney, universal studios, foreign or local vacations, all beyond our means. My belief at the time is TIME. Now is the time they will enjoy Disney, not when they are grown. Now is the time they need the good education, now is College years. All I can provide the family, we gave due to the aspect of TIME. We are done with it, as our kids are now grown up. I still cannot believe were able to provide that much to our kids despite we are not rich. We paid the debts, but when we talk about how it was all achieved we can only smile, the achievement is unbelievable.
Thank you once again for sharing your experience with such sincerity. You motivate and inspire other people to learn to live better and be truly happy. Greetings from Argentina!!!
Thanks Marta
I don’t believe any of us can say we haven’t made any of those mistakes. I know I have but hopefully we have all learned a better way of managing our money. I am in the process of trying to financially educate my grandchildren who as setting out on their adult life. Trying to get on the property ladder and trying to progress their careers. Life is hard for young people it was hard for us starting out in the 70’s and it’s hard for youngsters today. It’s just making them understand that a few hard years in the beginning will lead to a more comfortable life later on. I try to lead by example and help where I can. I sometimes give money sometimes loan money. This is to make them understand that things don’t come free. I charge them a low interest on any loan and insist they pay an agreed amount every month off the loan. This makes them understand the responsibility of borrowing money and also understand that the quicker you pay back debt the less interest you pay on the debt.
Exactly, the tough times don’t last forever.
That’s a great idea!
Excellent video, Jane. I love my slow cookers and use them constantly. Thank you for reminding me to be more prudent with water usage. We also eat at home instead of eating out. The quality of food is better, and eating at home is more enjoyable.
Thanks for watching
Could you share where you find slow Cooker recipes. In Spain is not very common. I only use it for making bread and chicken. Most recipes i see is just throwing bags of sauce and onion soups not real ingredients.
@@mirth9859 I don't use recipes often but make soups in the slow cooker by putting cooked meat and whatever vegetables and spices I want in it and cooking on low.
How does your bread turn out in the slow cooker? I want to make sourdough bread in the slow cooker.
Thank you for sharing your story and for reminding us how easy it is to get into bad habits. You are a wealth of common sense and information! Thanks Jane & Mike!
Thanks for watching
You've given an excellent tutorial on how to live wisely.
Thank you
Hi Jane, this is your best video yet. You're really inspiring me. Thank you.
Thanks very much for your feedback
Hi Jane, thank you so much for an inspiring and motivating video as ever. I followed your blog religiously and I can honestly say it was a lifesaver- your experiences getting out of personal debt, the highs and lows, really helped me. I had huge credit card and personal debt at the time, along with being in negative equity so unable to sell my house. I can’t tell you how many times I read each blog post, it really helped following your journey.
I was so sad when you had to stop blogging and greatly missed being able to refer back to helpful posts. But I was absolutely delighted when I found you on you tube recently and I’ve watched every single video over the past couple of months and I’ve almost caught up to today- thank you for your amazing content.
Listening to you today talk about your personal debt in the past was fab, I was wondering if you could publish those early blog posts into a book, I would certainly buy it, reading about a persons struggles to pay off debt then have such a happy ending would be perfect. I’m so pleased for all you have achieved, its very well deserved.
Thank you for your honesty and wisdom. I’m very grateful and look forward to hearing more.
Kindest regards x
Thanks for your kind words.
Love your channel❤ Very important words. Gorgeous puppies too.
Good common sense and advice. Sitting down and getting a plan takes a lot of effort. I admire you both, so now enjoy the early retirement.
I agree the credit card is very useful as a backup but always pay it off every month. At 24% the interest is horrendous, so if I can’t afford it I don’t really need it.
I still use post war recipes that I learnt from my mother. Leftovers are the next meal and are never to be wasted.
I always check the food prices and eat accordingly as prices are going skywards in Australia. Gas and electricity likewise.
Thanks very much for watching and commenting
I could check off most of those things. They made me feel decidedly sick. I have a basic emergency fund now. I am still carrying 7.5k credit card debt. I am due to clear the credit card in about 18 months hopefully. I have no other debt. I don't own my home but my Ex is currently paying the mortgage. I have always paid my bills. Sometimes food has been very very tight though.
Keep going, you'll get there
Great list! Listening to the list I realize that our lives changed when we stopped using credit, started intentionally saving money, and thought about future purchases.
Thanks very much
We all have a personal history...thank you for sharing yours. Makes this all seem possible!
Thanks very much for watching
Wow! I racked up 15,000 in credit debt after my divorce. I didn't know how credit cards really worked. A couple girlfriends helped me make a budget and get it all paid off! Now I rarely use a credit card and pay it off entirely each month if I do!
I'm glad you got help
Brilliant vlog Jane and Mike very real and inspirational of how to live a wonderful life without spending excessively, thank you Anna.
Likewise as with taking care not to borrow from friends or family, also watch out for those who would see you as their readymade ATM machine! I used to be an easy mark for these kinds of individuals and was way too trusting. It cost me a few thousand dollars but I learned my lesson. Trust must be earned, never make final payment before the work is completed and don't feel bad saying no to a friend or relative who wants you to cosign for a loan!
Sorry that happened to you
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Oh, no need to be sorry. It was a valuable lesson learned! Nobody ever got over on me twice or for very much. And, no, I didn't cosign for that expensive car loan. I learned to keep my finances separate and my wealth status private. And I effectively got all the swindlers and scammers winnowed out of my life and blocked years ago. My late sister was one of the worst offenders. She died owing us all money! She was a hoarder and when she died I had to clean out her house and property. I found so many items she'd stolen from me over the years!
Years ago, I had a friend hint at me that she wanted me to co-sign for an apartment she wanted. Every time she brought it up, I would change the subject because I was young at the time, but still knew not to co-sign for anybody…Her sister ended up co-signing for her, and my understanding is it did not go well because she lost that apartment a few years down the line!
Thank you for sharing your history!! It is such an encouragement. We have made some of those mistakes but are now at the much smaller mortgage only stage. We are working on it as fast as we can. Really enjoy your talks. They are real. ❤❤
Thanks for watching
Thank you for sharing your debt story.
Thanks for watching
Hello Jane! I saw your video last month and just hooked.Even my kids love your style of talking.Your eloquence clearly shows you’ve been a teacher.Since I have watched more than 50 of your videos ..
I have a question,I sometimes buy full leg/shoulder of lamb at half price and don’t want to use it all for one dinner.I don’t have meat slicer,how I can divide the meat for at least three dinners?
Cook it, pull it off the bone, freeze it
Thank you!!!! When you talked about using credit cards like a checking account, something finally clicked for me.
Glad to help
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Speaking about home expenditures oddly is never spoken about but when people speak about it openly we are able to understand and learn.
Thanks for watching
I have really enjoyed listening to your journey towards zero debt. Could you please share more details about it maybe in a separate video. I think it would be highly motivational. That long and hard journey always feel a bit more achivable after listening such a story. Thanks a lot!
Thanks for watching
Very inspiring, thank you both.
Thanks for watching
Thanks for sharing your history!😊
Thanks for watching
Thank you for sharing your inspirational story Jane - an encouragement to many.
Thanks for watching
Made some of those mistakes early on, no more thank goodness!
Great advice Jane
Inspirational Jane.
I think we’ve done most of those in the past. Not borrowed from friends and family, but pretty much the rest of them. One thing I do remember doing at one point was putting the credit card in a plastic tub filled with water & putting it in the freezer. That way the card could not be used except in an emergency, and any use needed to be planned in time to defrost it! It meant that we never actually did use it!
Thanks for watching and commenting
Inspiring
Thanks
👍
You offer really sound advice!
👍👍👍
Inspirational👍👍 and food for thought!
Good advice re running out of options so you borrow off family and friends. If that's not a wake up call then i don't know what is. We all make mistakes but sometimes we have to call a halt and look for a different mindset. As Martin lewis says, there's always a solution and glad you found yours.
Thanks very much
good and sensible living.
Yes, I watch family members struggle. But she won't stop and do her budget. So I just watch and repeat, when she moans about being broke.
That's such a shame especially when people won't be helped
Send her this video!
I might do that.
@@PearlPugh Jane explains it very well. Bombard her with Frugsl Queen in France and Kate Kaden videos 😁
@@asavannah7439I’ve tried that with family members. I have bombarded them with frugal videos and it all goes in one ear and out the other…I’ve stopped wasting my time!
Actually, once we were so broke, we made a mortgage payment with a credit card. Talk about anxiety !
Indeed
Loaning money to friends. Very bad idea. Shame on me.
Thanks for watching
No shame in it. But if they borrow once and don't pay back as promised and then pop back in asking for more, say No!
Did you buy home in France or are you renting....? Flat or house...?
We paid cash for it
Jane & the community on here, I would like to ask you for some advice. I’m trying to cut my grocery bill and it’s kind of working, but I have a issue with when things that I use often and I can keep in the laundry room, pantry or freezer are on sale and I tend to stock up on things. This in reality makes my grocery budget quite high again, even though I’m eating relatively frugal meals. Maybe you have some advice? It’s bothers me, but I don’t want to miss out on saving money on things I eat often. It’s kind of a conundrum. Would love to hear your experience and potential advice ont this ❤
1. Weekly stock check, even if it's on sale, if you don't need it, don't buy it. Sales happen all the time.
2. Make a meal plan from what you already have.
3 set a supermarket budget and stick to it, if monthly, you can only spend 1/4 if that budget each week.
4. Write a list of what you actually need.
5. Don't browse, just go straight to what you need, then leave.
6. Stock rotate when you get home.
7. Repeat the above each week
@@bmedve3427 thank you!!! All very good tips 🙏🏻❤️ Definitely doing the laundry detergent tip and will try a no buy week. Do you have experience with this? Would be curious to hear how that went 😊
I track when my favorite items go on sale since it seems to go in cycles. Then I check the price online for places like Walmart and Target to see which is cheapest. Add a little (even $5) to budget to use for stockpile. I keep my stockpile money in a different part of my wallet.
All is Said...Christine...
It is a terrible shame that most developed countries have long since adopted a debt-based capitalist system which provides little to no financial training. Our parents did not use debt, which is a relatively new invention, and they could not provide any sophistication about using credit card points for free purchases, plane tickets and the like - or how not to be used by credit. I have many stories about how I misused credit to my detriment. Luckily, Dave Ramsey's books were available here, too.....
People are trained to get debt as shysters profit from they misery!