Frugal Living - Changing Your Perspective on What is Essential

Frugal living is almost a necessity for many people in this day and age. With prices going up and up, it is a challenge for most families to have something left over at the end of the month to add to their savings.

It is surprising what we learn when we begin to practice thrift at home. Today I want to share some tips with you about living frugally, that I learned over the past almost thirty years of married life. We were married in late 1980 and in the early spring of 1981 there was no work for my husband who is an industrial electrician. Who could have guessed that would happen -certainly not me! I thought there would always be work available in vocations like construction, nursing and teaching. This downturn of the economy taught me lessons that I still value today.

We do not always need what we want or imagine we have to have. While it is nice to only buy new things, second hand works too. Furniture, appliances, vehicles and electronics are often available at excellent prices due to people moving or upgrading. I remember buying a desk second hand from an elderly couple who were downsizing. After we explained that we had moved out of province due to lack of work at home and that we were setting up a household temporarily, until things got better, they gave us a bunk bed, a table and various kitchen utensils. They were happy to give the items to someone who needed them and we were delighted with the gifts. Often older furniture is more durable and with a coat of paint or stain can be made to look like new. Changing one's perspective on what is essential can help a person manage with a lot less.

Personally, I found that comparing my situation with those less fortunate, has aided me in being grateful for what I do have. Once, when I felt our three bedroom home was getting too cramped for a family of six, we received a newsletter from a mission in which mention was made of a mother and daughter living on a balcony. A balcony! Immediately, I tried to picture our family living under those circumstances. Suddenly I was very grateful for all the space we enjoyed. It was amazing to me to realize that my circumstances had not changed one bit, but my perspective sure had!

When you open any fashion magazine, you cannot miss the emphasis on clothes. But how many clothes does a person actually need? Generally people have far more clothes than they wear on a regular basis. Deciding to stop acquiring anything for a certain time frame can help you with your budget. Sometimes just pairing up your clothes differently gives you a new look. For frugal living, not buying clothes for awhile, can add substantially to your savings.

Saving money at the grocery store can also make a difference in the weekly budget. Cooking your own cereal and doing your own baking can save you big time. Buying boxed breakfast cereals, cookies, cake and bread really adds up. Besides saving money when you make your own, you will not have to eat all those ingredients you can scarcely pronounce and that sound more like chemicals than food. If you do not have time in the morning to cook cereal, you can prepare it in the crock pot the night before. In the vegetable section look for clearance items. Often produce, with spots you can remove will still make a lovely soup or stew. Mildly bruised apples can be used for apple crisp, apple pie, or apple sauce.

If thrift at home is not something you grew up with, it will require adjustments to change your habits. Managing with less is a goal you need to embrace and strive to reach. Examine the ways you can change your perspective and engage your creativity. Use your common sense, be patient with yourself and your family members as you go through changes. Think of the rewards you will gain when you accept the challenge to succeed at frugal living.

The Living Frugal Lifestyle

When my parents married they had just enough funds to buy a bed and table and chairs ... seriously! Needless to say that I grew up immersed in the living frugal lifestyle. My mother and grandmother were thrifty housewives. Today I would like to share with you 6 ways my mother taught me to practice thrift at home.

1. Do not go to restaurants for dinner on a regular basis. Assuming that $40.00 to $60.00 buys dinner for two, think of the groceries you can buy for this money. You can have a week of dinners for $60.00 if you cook the food yourself.

2. When using cleaning products, and items like shampoo or conditioner, always use less than the recommended amount. The manufacturer is considering his profit when the guidelines for use are drawn up. You consider your pocketbook when you dispense the product! First try a small amount. Then if you need more, add a bit more until you find the quantity that does the job effectively.

3. Do not use paper towels. Instead use rags made from worn out clothing and towels to clean up a spill.
Throw the dirty rags in the wash and reuse. Toss the rag if it is too dirty to put in the washing machine.

4. Take advantage of thrift stores and buy secondhand. Back in the fifties, as I was growing up, there were no thrift stores. Mom would sew our clothes. She would take used clothing and fashion clothes for us. I still remember the woolen skirt she made for me from her tweed winter coat. She carefully opened all the seams, turned the fabric over and cut out the pattern for my skirt. The wrong side of her coat became the right side for my skirt. The buttons from the coat were saved for a different project.

In later years after thrift stores became more prevalent, she would exclaim how much more convenient it would be be to buy children's clothes, rather than make them yourself. Whether you buy new clothes and wash them several times or used clothes and wash them, they both end up looking pretty much the same, she would reason.

5. Bake your own bread and pastries. Homemade bread, cake and cookies are much cheaper than store-bought and often taste better too. Her idea on saving energy was that once the oven was hot, you might as well bake a couple of different recipes, rather than have to reheat the oven later on.

6. Lower the thermostat. Mom believed in keeping the thermostat set a little lower too. She thought a great way to save on the heating bill was simply to dress a bit warmer. When she was cold she would reach for her sweater and only raise the temperature if she needed more than her sweater to get warm.

The living frugal lifestyle was a necessity for my parents, growing up in the 30's and 40's. Our parents were always asking themselves how they could improve on their frugal lifestyle.
My husband tells me that to save money his parents sold the butter they churned, bought margarine to use themselves, and pocketed the difference.

In hard times a person needs to be creative about saving money. When you give some thought to where the money goes and how you are spending money, pay attention to the value you are getting. Ask yourself if you really need the item, or is it a frivolous expenditure? An awareness of the value you are getting for your money is an important step to achieving the living frugal lifestyle.