Cheerful Frugality: What’s Holding You Back
A frugal lifestyle--however cheerful--is bound to hit plateaus. I'm thankful for all the new blogs on the Frugal Hacks blogroll. Recently converted tightwads offer new ideas and fresh energy.
I also ask myself, "What's holding me back?" Then I challenge myself to find new solutions.
What's holding me back from super-couponing? Acquiring more newspaper inserts. (Use a coupon service.)
What's holding me back from updating my pricebook? Shopping with two kids. (Shop one night a week instead.)
What's holding me back from losing weight? Fear that I will fail again. (Enlist my kids as an audience I'd hate to disappoint.)
What's holding me back from taking our recycling where it will benefit the school? Lack of sorting containers. (Find four cardboard boxes and assign this job to the five-year-old.)
What's holding me back from menu planning? Laziness. (Don't check out any library books until I've posted our menu.)
What's holding me back from saving gas? Boredom. (Let my husband take the more reliable car to work, essentially making us a one-car household during the day.)
Is there anything holding you back from the pursuit of cheerful frugality? Finding an answer--any answer--will make your challenges easier to conquer.
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10 Responses to “Cheerful Frugality: What’s Holding You Back”
February 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I am struggling with this too. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about why I’m not more frugal and it all boils down to fear of learning/trying new things and how it’s easier to throw money at a problem.
I just have to make the first step and the rest will work itself out.
February 4th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Meredith, please elaborate on “coupon service”! Our best discount grocery store does not take internet coupons, and we can’t justify the cost of a Sunday paper just for the coupons (sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?).
February 4th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I don’t understand the coupon service.
Let me know as well
February 4th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
So often, for me anyway, it’s just a matter of stopping to think. Time for uninterupted thought is hard to come by at my house, but it’s never been more neccessary as we adjust to being a family of 6. I’ve started making myself notes – “this isn’t working” or “how can I save on this” – and then pouring myself a nice cup of cocoa at night to really figure something out. Our grocery budget has climbed over the last six or seven months and tonights project is to get it back in line!
February 5th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Thanks for reading! I wasn’t able to open the page last night, so I couldn’t answer your coupon service question until just now.
Selling coupons is illegal; however, you can pay a fee to have someone (usually a SAHM)clip certain coupons and mail them to you.
Splitting hairs, right?
Gina from Six In The Country has a good post on the topic of coupon services, along with a link to the one she uses:
http://sixinthecountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-secret-coupon-source.html
February 5th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Great article. I found that I was able to save more money at the grocery store when I left the kids with dad. I am able to use coupons more effectively and I don’t purchase a bunch of extra items.
Thanks-
Toni
February 5th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
chinamama, I always recoup the cost of the paper at minimum. A Sunday Dallas paper cost $1.50, or you can get two bundled together for $2.00. Between CVS and Walgreens weekly specials, rebates, and “bucks”, I paid $2.63 for $23.68 cents worth of goods yesterday. So minus the cost of the newspaper, I saved almost $20.
February 5th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Great post! What’s holding me back from writing the business proposal for my book/marketing idea? Letting myself get overwhelmed, as opposed to breaking it down, piece by piece.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Very thought provoking! I will have to think on that and see. I think many times it is fear that holds people back. Is it holding me back? I know that is part of the reason why I haven’t finished my ebook yet. What if no one buys it? So I keep putting it off. Now might be the time to get past that. Thanks!
February 6th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
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