Everyone’s Doing It!
Posted by: Joy 
When I used to say that phrase to my parents, I always got the “Well… if everyone was going to jump off a cliff would you do it too?” line. LOL! BUT, some things are terrific if everyone’s doing it, and it appears that being frugal is becoming one of those things. Hooray for us!
My husband and I have 8 children. The oldest two are married and off on their own. If THEY told me they were going to be frugal because “Everyone is doing it” I’d say TERRIFIC! And if they asked me for advice about the best areas to be frugal in, I’d have a bunch of suggestions. (and actually, these kids are already doing a great job with their finances, I’ve been impressed)
- Be aware of what your expenses and spending ARE. Take a few minutes and make a list of all bills and spending you expect for a month. Total that list and subtract it from your NET pay. Decide what you will do with any left over pay… if you don’t choose what to do with it, it disappears like a thief in the night.
- Eat at home. (your own home lol ) Designate the times you feel eating out might be justified, such as a birthday or other special occasion. When you DO eat out it will feel much more gratifying. Make a list of meals you can fix quick when you’re tired after work. Keep ingredients for those meals on hand. This will reduce the temptation to pick up take-out. (or you could live & work in the country and then it’s just a pain to drive to town to buy dinner in the same amount of time it would have taken to fix it yourself lol ) Set an amount of money for grocery spending and make it work. ALWAYS grocery shop with a list. Always.
- Give each other an allowance if you have any money left at the end of the bills. Even $5 a month of “play” money for each of you will help curb reckless spending when money is tight. You don’t have to be accountable to anyone as to what you spend your allowance on.
There are plenty of other ways to start being frugal but you don’t want to overwhelm yourself right at the start. Once you get these 3 areas down, THEN you can move on to other important areas like finding frugal friends or joining frugal websites such as www.frugal-families.com where you can find great ideas and support for a frugal lifestyle!
With this recession and a tough economy, one HUGE positive I see coming is that people are becoming aware of their finances. They are controlling wants and taking care of needs first. They are learning to live frugally and finding it very satisfying!
Okay kids…. go ahead… even IF Everyone is Doing it.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
You mean you’re not supposed to live only a mile from your parents and eat at their house 5 days out of the week.
LOL JK
Those 3 tips are probably the best ones I’ve gotten and probably the ones I struggle with the most.