Cheerful frugality and the grocery budget
Meredith, in her usual flair, has a great post up on cheerful frugality and the grocery budget.
By the way, stay tuned for an exciting announcement in the next few days for all of you who love frugality. It's something my husband and I have been praying about for quite some time now. And we're finally ready to take the jump.
After all, frugality is not always about spending the very least. It's about doing the most with what you have. That may mean assigning 25% of each week's grocery money to invest in loss leaders for the pantry. You declare a beans-and-cornbread night so you can bring beef stew to a sick family. Perhaps you don't eat canned chili, but you buy some for the food bank when your coupons made the cans 10-cents apiece.
Read the full post hereWhat about you? How are you "doing the most with what you have"? I'd love to hear personal examples, ideas, and input on this as I think it's something we can all learn from each other on.
By the way, stay tuned for an exciting announcement in the next few days for all of you who love frugality. It's something my husband and I have been praying about for quite some time now. And we're finally ready to take the jump.
posted by Crystal Paine at 3:57 PM
10 Comments:
Thanks for the compliment!
And I must say, I'll be on pins and needles until you explain your new adventure : )
dont leave us hanging too long! please!
I think a lot of it has to do with attitude, as Meredith said. If we're grumpy about being frugal because we feel we're forced into it, then that's not honouring God. We can have folks over for dinner, even if it's homemade macaroni and cheese. Wipe the peanut butter off the table, put the legos away, and greet your guests with a smile.
And another thing I've learned is that once my husband and I have settled on a budget, don't try to finagle out another few dollars. Be joyful that God has provided was he has and do my best to make what I can out of what we have. Nothing stresses my husband out more than to think that I'm unhappy with what we have.
Personally I have been changing a bit on my frugal philosophies. I had been working hard on couponing and stocking up but finding that I really didn't need to continue to do so & that it wasn't the best thing for me and my health right now. Now I am focusing on spending money on only what I truly need. I find that when I am in the stores I am more tempted to buy so it is better to stay away.
Although frugality is very important & necessary to me, so is living simply and it is not always easy to combine the two. For me now, really less is best, so I am minimizing a lot of things (spending time, money).
For example, I don't plan on buying any craft items until I use what I have; groceries are on a needed basis only and I hope to stretch my trips out. I am trying to have a mindset that everything I bring thorough my door will have to be taken care of, cleaned or maintained, and do I really want more of that? Christmas shopping will be minimal this year; I do not want to fall into the materialistic trappings nor the commercialism of it.
It is important to me to be a good steward of what I already have and to not be wasteful or to hoard. I don't feel I've done the best job lately as a homemaker in saving money more than spending. And by this, I don't mean saving money in my purchases, I mean NOT purchasing to begin with and truly putting the money aside. I really want to help my husband better by doing this more. I think it is easy to get caught up in deals and bargains in being frugal, however, if one doesn't need it then it's not really a bargain. I feel really being frugal often is just not spending at all ~ where else can that money go to for the long-term to help our family? These are a few things that are helping my life right now.
To add if I could, if I had to put my previous post into one word, I guess it would be "contentment".
My new mantra: I.have.enough.and.do.not.need.more.
Michelle,
Your thoughts are convicting; I've been guilty of that myself.
I'll definitely check out your blog several times today, Crystal. :) Looking forward to hearing about what you planned.
I find myself growing discontent sometimes when I look at some of the blessings my friends have. I long to have a home of my own to fix up instead of renting. I sometimes get tired of trying to stretch every paycheck. However, when I sit down and think about it; we are incredibly rich compared to most people in the world. Not only that, but my husband is able to give me a more generous grocery budget than many of you other ladies have (from talking to friends or reading your posts). Also, if I had tons of money I wouldn't be forced to be creative and learn to do thing myself. I love working hard to find great deals and to inspire friends to do the same!
One area I need to work on: Garage Sale-ing! It's a sport for me and I go every week in the summer and usually end up spending $8-10 per time. A lot of what I buy is clothing for the kids or other things we need, but a lot of it is just because it's a great deal and that just adds to our clutter and is unnecessary!
Great post Meredith! I always enjoy your blog. And I'm also encouraged in frugality by this blog too. I'm dying to hear the big announcement.
Mrs. Jo aka Lindsey S.
Thank you for linking to Frugal Hacks, Crystal. I think I have an idea of what's up your sleeve, and can't wait to see it!
Making the most of what you already have is so key, and I think it matters most in our closets.
One thing that I've learned to do is to subscribe to (free) catalogues that typically feature classic, basic styles like Chadwick's of Boston or J.Crew- NOT for buying new things, but for putting together new outfits from what is already in my closet based on what the professional stylists have put together in the catalogue. ... it makes you feel like you are "shopping" in your own wardrobe :)
Better yet, you can cut down on waste by modelling outfits on the web sites of clothing companies rather than subscribing to catalogues... J Crew has a great site... and so does Ralph Lauren.
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