Getting Our Priorities Straight

08 June 2009
I have been thinking a lot lately about money and frugal living. When I concentrated solely on reducing our spending and living a more frugal, simple life I think we were in much better financial shape. But, when we moved here to Podunk, my focus changed. The coupon deal opportunities here are few and far between and I was convinced that it was really difficult to save money and spend less on groceries considering my limited shopping opportunities. I switched my focus to trying to bring in more money. My thinking was that what I could earn would make up for the extra money we "needed" to spend on expenses.

This was not such a well thought out plan. It seems the more money we have, the more we spend. I had fallen off the frugal bandwagon! I was bringing in more income, but we were spending it all, and saving nothing! This has got to change! So, I decided that this summer we as a family will recommit ourselves to frugal living. I will worry about earning money less and family more. If I'm not working myself silly, running out to dinner will not be as tempting as it has been. Cooking meals at home will be a family activity. The kids and I will cook and bake and spend time together. I will teach them how to shop sales and use coupons. Tristen is eager to learn the ins and outs of CVS shopping. We will spend less on entertainment, eating out, and all the things we have started wasting money on. But, I am determined that we will have a great time anyway and will not miss these unnecessary expenses. I will write about what we are up to and if we are feeling deprived. I just know that I've got to get our priorities straightened out and that having more money will never be the first priority in my home!

I'd love to hear from other frugal families. Have y'all ever had a setback or flat out fallen off the frugal bandwagon. I would love to know how you got back on track!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Well I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan, and try really hard to follow his guidelines because his Motto "Live Like no one else so that one day you can live like no one else" is something I would really like to see come true for us. His Financial Peace classes are taught in many churches, and I adore listening to him on the radio. He is common sense brilliant!

Annie said...

I feel like I'm in a spending rut these days as well. I have stacks of coupons that I haven't even cut out because I don't want to take the time. I'm looking forward to following your re-commitment and maybe I will get inspired! Good Luck!

Raj said...

All i can say is Good luck with your efforts for a frugal living!