Being frugal does not mean one should not enjoy life, just that we should examine our way of life to see if what we are doing is bringing us pleasure for the cost associated.
I recently had the problem of deciding to fill in the artificial nails that was given to me as a gift from my husband or taking them off and saving the money spent for upkeep. I do feel like I'm worth $15 every other week, but in the end I think it just comes down to the fact that I have other interests that I would rather put my money.
In deciding to explore just what I could do with $15 bi weekly I realized that just as artificial nails require upkeep, so do many other items in our lives. It just comes down to is the price to keep the item worth the sacrafice somewhere else.
In my instance, the item cost at the bare minimum $15 bi weekly or 26 times or $390 yearly. $15 biweekly does not sound like much but when one takes it a step further and then investigates what could that $15 really buy that would give equal joy to myself, then that is where the significance is really seen.
For me personally, I decided I would get just as much enjoyment for my $30 this month in the following way: I could buy school supplies for a child I do not know or I could buy a lot of pencils and take to the school for use when a child does not have one. The next month, I could find a nursing home in my area and take $30 worth of socks in all different sizes or I could save my money for a couple of months and take some nightgowns and PJs for the ones that do not have family.
My nails were pretty but I found after examining that I can get much more joy for my money. I'm gonna take the same money and buy some polish, calcium and vitamin D (as someone mentioned) and work on my own nails and use the leftover money in a more frugal and neighborly use.
By Meemaw
Use as little of a product as possible. Try starting out using half of what you would normally use and then go from there. Also, buy generic and store brand products.
I am determined to increase the portion of my monthly pay I put into savings. It goes without saying, this is not always easy.
After purchasing items The Four R's are: 1. Re-think different uses. 2. Re-use. 3. Reduce waste in landfills. 4. Recycle. Most items have more than one use.
Enjoy nature in your own backyard by observing animals! Keep a camera close by to capture them candid. Use the pictures to make your own greeting cards or postcards with sayings to go along with the mood of the picture!
Today people look for items to make life easier. Yet, those items cost money which is earned by working, thus defeating the purpose of making life easier. In the "olden days" things were done more economically than today, and life seemed simpler.
I've always been pretty smart with money, but three very special little boys have taught me that simplifying all areas of our lives is one of life's sweetest lessons learned.
My earliest adult encounter with frugal living was as a twenty-something single woman living on $425 a month in the 70's. I was exasperated with most of the budgeting articles in ladies magazines with titles like "How to Get the Most Out of Your Roast".
Not frugal, it is too uptight a word. The word I like to use is thoughtful. Every time I save money, I smile because I have purchased quality.
I was raised during the depression by my maternal Grandparents. We had to be saving and making do. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without".
When making a budget, be sure to identify Discretionary and Mandatory expenses.
During a stressful time in our lives, my DH and I did not have the money to pay our rent, so we had to search for a more frugal life for the two of us, our daughter and three children who were at the time living with us, plus our son and his two children who also stayed part-time with us.
Thinking about it, it seems to me that the greatest thrifty tip is employing ingenuity! If you have a household problem, look at the conventional way of tackling it (which probably costs lots of money), and then try to turn it around to a more frugal option.
I have joked that for a penny pincher staying in one place is a way to save money! But it's true that moving is a costly business.
Oh, yes, ThriftyFun has helped me in many ways showing me ways to improve our lives. I never dreamed there were as many others such as ourselves, trying to live and get along with everyday life as frugally as possible.
I came from a home where everything was bought new. My parents would never buy "someone else's junk".
There's not much that would make me happier than seeing a dollar sign followed by the number two at gas stations. I long for the days that I complained about gas prices exceeding $2 per gallon. However, there's little that I can do to find immediate relief, so I'm going to try to make the best of things.
