For example-
-I still use Swagbucks. I might earn 5 a day, and eventually, over time, that equals a $25 Amazon gift card. According to my account, I've earned $525 with Swagbucks. If only I had the discipline to save all of those up to spend at once!
-Along those same lines, Wal-Mart is still my go-to grocery store and I automatically use their Savings Catcher program with every purchase. I don't have the energy or the desire to cut coupons or chase around four or five different stores for the best prices, but there are little things I'm happy to do to save on groceries. And boy will my grocery life improve when Aldi opens up just a half a mile away, instead of the 20 minute drive it currently takes me to get to our favorite discount grocery store!
-I only drive when I have to. This has changed over the years with preschool and other obligations ebbing and flowing, but if there is any chance that I can avoid driving somewhere, you can bet I'm doing it! Putting off trips to the store until I have multiple reasons to go, organizing carpools, or riding my bike when the weather permits, I'm doing it!
-I cut all of my boys hair. I had a short stint in the first three years of Noah's life that I indulged in a $20 haircut for him every other month, but I'm back to 100% of the cutting now. Handsome little fellows indeed! And there really is hair under there.
-I cut all of my boys hair. I had a short stint in the first three years of Noah's life that I indulged in a $20 haircut for him every other month, but I'm back to 100% of the cutting now. Handsome little fellows indeed! And there really is hair under there.
-I try to go to the grocery store just once a week. This one can be hard, but it's completely worth it to avoid the impulse purchases that have a way of hopping into my cart. And it's less driving- my favorite!
-Occasionally, to the annoyance of my family, I still like to 'eat down' our pantry and fridge a good bit. Not to the point that we have bare cupboards but to make sure that we're using that last half-bottle of alfredo or all of the spinach or actually cooking the fish that I bought but don't really want to eat. Food is a huge potential money-waster, and while I'm not as strict about it as I used to be, I still like to make sure that we're using what we've got.
-I budget out our money to the dollar every month. When we first finished grad school I let this habit slide for a good long while we tried to figure out what our new life expenses looked like. But we are thick into our current reality and, for the most part, I am 100% committed to budgeting every expense we have. It allows us to save a healthy portion of our paycheck and still make some pretty fun choices with our money. Which is easy because-
-I've pinpointed what is important to us. To each their own, of course, but funds are not unlimited around here. I could just not care less about how trendy our clothes are- as long as they're clean and hole-free and not wrinkled- but I love saving up for vacations. Travel is important to us. This season's hottest style of jeans or sneakers or sunglasses? I don't know and I don't care. Making sure we have the "right" name brands doesn't mean nearly as much to me as knowing that there is money in the bank and a fun family trip on the horizon.
Of course, in lots of ways I'm not nearly as frugal as I once was. I was reading through my 2014 journal the other day and smiled at the "$20 date night once a month" goal that we had set in order to maintain our sanity when our income was just a hair over $2,000 a month. Graduate school was a refiners fire, and while we aren't close to perfect (haven't bought that beach house just yet! ;) I'm still so grateful for the lessons that we learned while we were students that have carried with us over the years. While also feeling so grateful for the abundance and blessings that we've been given that allow us to make the choices that we do.
Also, I now refuse to wear socks with holes in them. That's just torture.
-Occasionally, to the annoyance of my family, I still like to 'eat down' our pantry and fridge a good bit. Not to the point that we have bare cupboards but to make sure that we're using that last half-bottle of alfredo or all of the spinach or actually cooking the fish that I bought but don't really want to eat. Food is a huge potential money-waster, and while I'm not as strict about it as I used to be, I still like to make sure that we're using what we've got.
-I budget out our money to the dollar every month. When we first finished grad school I let this habit slide for a good long while we tried to figure out what our new life expenses looked like. But we are thick into our current reality and, for the most part, I am 100% committed to budgeting every expense we have. It allows us to save a healthy portion of our paycheck and still make some pretty fun choices with our money. Which is easy because-
-I've pinpointed what is important to us. To each their own, of course, but funds are not unlimited around here. I could just not care less about how trendy our clothes are- as long as they're clean and hole-free and not wrinkled- but I love saving up for vacations. Travel is important to us. This season's hottest style of jeans or sneakers or sunglasses? I don't know and I don't care. Making sure we have the "right" name brands doesn't mean nearly as much to me as knowing that there is money in the bank and a fun family trip on the horizon.
Of course, in lots of ways I'm not nearly as frugal as I once was. I was reading through my 2014 journal the other day and smiled at the "$20 date night once a month" goal that we had set in order to maintain our sanity when our income was just a hair over $2,000 a month. Graduate school was a refiners fire, and while we aren't close to perfect (haven't bought that beach house just yet! ;) I'm still so grateful for the lessons that we learned while we were students that have carried with us over the years. While also feeling so grateful for the abundance and blessings that we've been given that allow us to make the choices that we do.
Also, I now refuse to wear socks with holes in them. That's just torture.
No comments:
Post a Comment