BA's post about celebrating frugality made me think about being frugal.

I guess I'm frugal..... at least compared to some people.

I save 20% of my salary to 401K, invest $200 to Sharebuilder, do not carry CC balance, clip coupons, send out rebates, and always looking for deals.

On the other hand, I carry LV purse (which I debated for five years to buy it, saved money and paid cash for it) and have other name brand stuff.

Oh, and I take vacations in places like Hawaii.

Why I save 20% of my salary to 401K? Well, I think the answer now is "Because I can". I've been working for the same company for 10 years, and got a couple of promotions. I always try to contribute 20% of my salary since I started working in the U.S. However, it wasn't that easy when I was making around 40K or so. I still managed to save about 15% every year. Over the years, it got easier because my salary increased. It's so nice that I have some spending money even after saving 20% to 401K. Oh, and another reason is that I am not counting on SS I know the system will be there somehow, but who knows how much I can get out of SS in 20 years. I'd rather be prepared.

Why I clip coupons and hunt deals? I guess the answer is "Because I like it". DH and I make decent salary and our household income is little over 100K. I know it's not a lot (especially in CA), but we can live pretty comfortable without being so tight about money. But, I just cannot waste our hard earned money. We do not have rich relatives and everything we have is bought with the money we earned. So, when I know I can buy a box of cereal for 10 cents, why do I want to pay $4 for it? I'd rather save the difference and buy DH his favorite steak. He works hard, and he deserves it.

Well, I guess my life style does not make sense to some people lol I have bunch of coupons in my LV purse, and pay 10 cents for cereals but pay $10 for a piece of meat. But I have my own reasons why I spend our money that way.

I guess I can call myself frugal : )