The first time I heard about being frugal……I was at a friends house and she had a newsletter called “The Tightwad Gazette”. I was fascinated that you could reuse items and make food from scratch. I read all of her copies and then discovered older ones were in a book. I then went to the library and read all that I could on frugal living. I took so many notes, years later I’m still taking notes!

Frugal living has touched my life…..in so many ways. When I was a single mom, I had no tools or previous knowledge of these things. I thought everything had to be bought retail. I had no idea how to cook. It wasn’t until years later that I learned these things, after I remarried. I could have stretched my dollars so much further.

I wasn’t raise to be frugal, ….My parents never taught us anything about money. Meals consisted of hot dogs, fish sticks and beef soup from a freeze dried mix. I’ll tell you that my kids shop second hand and use coupons.

The joy of frugality

My new husband hasn’t been frugal at all. We’ve spent 11 years fighting over money. He would spend and spend and go into debt. I tried to get him to use coupons and shop at thrift stores but he said why, we can afford it. Well, his job of 16 years closed this last December. The new job is at half the pay. Getting out of debt and staying out is now his new goal. Yay! We use coupons (got a great deal with a straight talk promo code recently), shop second hand when we can, eat out once a month, watch movies from the library and have more fun being together as a family.

I also shop for holidays months in advance. I buy gifts at half price or lower. The recipient doesn’t care how much I spent, just that they receive something that they wanted or needed! A “gift box” is something all frugal minded people need. I try to keep it stocked for any occasion and never have to run out and get that last minute gift. It’s also great at Christmas, at work when you receive a gift from someone you weren’t expecting to, you always have a small gift in your bag! he he

I subscribe to all the big coupon sites and visit them regularly too. These days (especially when you shop online like I do) you can find promotional codes and coupon deals for practically anything that you buy. Even if you are buying a new phone or changing to a new cell plan you can use a verizon promo code to spend a lot less money.

Frugal isn’t a dirty word! Embrace it, change your lifestyle accordingly and enjoy your financial freedom.