Does Being Frugal Have to be Difficult?

Being frugal doesn’t mean being miserable. Frugality involves looking at your goals and spending your money wisely to bring them to fruition.

For several years, we were ultra-frugal in just about every category in order to get out of consumer debt. This was difficult, but so worth it in the end. We pretty much sent every cent we could towards our debt. Whenever it felt hard, I remembered our end goal. This propelled me forward during the difficult times.

We are in a different place now, almost five years after we began to aggressively pay down our debt. We can afford to spend money on purchases that are important to us.

While at the grocery store, I purchase organic items in several categories. I wouldn’t have done that a few years ago! But now, I have a little bit of wiggle room in our budget.

At the same time, I have a dollar amount in my mind whenever I begin shopping. $200. Now, I don’t always stick to this number, but by remembering that I want to stay around this amount each week for our food (10 people at home), I am careful while shopping. I stick to my list as closely as possible, and I compare prices instead of throwing items into my cart willy-nilly. I want to still hold onto my frugal habits.

Another example would be when we went couch shopping this weekend. We went to a nice local furniture store, but I had a number in mind and we stuck to it. This meant that we were only able to purchase one couch right now instead of two, but by saving for the purchase beforehand and carefully considering the cost, we were able to walk away without going over budget. The second couch will come in another two months or so. I sure did want to purchase both couches together, but one will certainly do for now!

Now, I don’t always stick to my own advice, ha! I had forgotten that Prime Day was happening this week, and I went ahead and spent nearly $400 on a bed frame and mattress. (My mother -in-law is moving out of our cabin, and we are working on furnishing it.) I pulled money from savings to cover it, but it would have been nice if I had thought to budget for the expense beforehand. I was super happy to pay only $118 for a bedframe!

Categories that aren’t very important to us do not get the same financial attention as other categories. Our cars are both over ten years old and have over 220,000 miles. But they still work well, which is all that matters to us. To be wise, we do have a car fund that we contribute to in order to pay for a replacement whenever the inevitable happens. I do not like spending money on depreciating assets!

In order to remain frugal, contentment is so important. The Lord has blessed us with so much, hasn’t He? Being Frugal doesn’t have to be difficult. If we concentrate on our blessings, saving money to reach big goals becomes so much easier!

Related: An Abundant Mentality

Do you have any frugal tips to share? I’d love to hear them!

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