3/21/18

Loving that Frugal Life

I am totally into frugal living these days. Obviously, there are financial benefits to a frugal lifestyle. But beyond those, I enjoy the thrill being resourceful. Limitations breed creativity. It can be really fun to come up with a way to do something without going and buying all the things.

I'll admit, frugality can be tedious. For example, making everything from scratch in your kitchen.

But more often I find that frugal choices lead to simplicity. For me, frugality often means less errands, better planning, and less angst over purchasing decisions. As the mom and family buyer, it leaves me with more space to be with the people instead of being at Target and Starbucks. 


Another bonus of a frugal mindset is less time going down the rabbit hole of online shopping. When I make up my mind that I'm not going to buy anything...guess who gets about the business of making banana bread?!

What I'm saying is...I start doing instead of scrolling and "consuming"  for minutes upon hours upon days. And that is freeing!

For fun...
Here's a handful of frugal things I've done lately.

1. Re-used a birthday balloon for my husband's birthday dinner. It's silly, and small but I'm really proud of this balloon's second life. It has lived on our kitchen ceiling since my daughter's birthday in JANUARY. I thought about going a buying a balloon and remembered...I already had one!

 

2. I gave my boys haircuts at home the other day. That's $28 I did not spend.

My kids refuse to give me a normal smile. Best he could do.

3. When the weather warmed up a few weeks ago, I evaluated the girls clothes and discovered that Caroline needs almost no new clothes or shoes for spring and summer. I have tons of hand-me-downs, so I can go on and resist the temptation to buy size 3 little girls' clothes.


4. When we recently returned home from a family trip, I made sure we had a meal planned ahead for the evening. I took out chili from the freezer and it was so easy to throw it on the stove. The last time we went out of town, I had no re-entry meal plan and we spent $45 going out to a Mexican restaurant.



5. I've been freezing herbs. Before they go bad, I dice them up and put them in the freezer. Yes to not wasting food!


I make myself rich by making my wants few. -Henry David Thoreau 

What frugal things have you been doing lately?


Our Getting Out of Debt Story

5 comments:

  1. "frugality often means less errands, better planning, and less angst over purchasing decisions" Yes! to this!!!

    I live a frugal housewife type life, but one of the special frugal things I've been doing recently is finally decorating my home, but instead of buying decor, I'm working with things from around the house and with things that have been packed away in boxes since we moved here. We are having to buy frames for some things, but that is okay, especially since some of the money is from gifts. And thank goodness for that, because frames are expensive!

    Your frugal accomplishments are great!

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    Replies
    1. I love the idea of redecorating with your own things. It is so satisfying.


      I have never found a Goodwill frame but I have heard some success stories.

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  2. How about trying Goodwill for a frame? Just find one in the size you need and take out the picture inside and replace it with yours. Or go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a good idea! Our prints are such non-standard dimensions that I never thought of buying right off the shelf. It's at least worth a look, and Goodwill especially has a wide variety of inexpensive frames. Thank you!!

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  3. I loooooove this post! One of the things I have done for a while is write down non-food shopping "needs" on a list. Then I shop for those things when I have a coupon, am already on an errand, or (what I love) with time the item drops off the list because we realized we didn't really need it!! I mean, my kids need some clothes now and again, but other stuff? Not worth shopping for, storing, caring for, etc. etc. Waiting/thinking before I buy something REALLY keeps me frugal.

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