Our Frugal Ways – Part 1 – Breaking the Habit
This recent post on Tight Fisted Miser had me wondering about how people think about their spending habits and what frugal might mean to people in various walks of life.
In this post we are going to start at the beginning and take a good look at our spending habits and how we can better make decisions about what is and is not frugal and what areas we are willing to make changes on – or not.
The first step in the process of learning to spend less, live more frugally and eventually save money is to know exactly how much you are spending. This is probably the most crucial step as well as the majority of people don’t have a true understanding of where their money goes. The easiest way to accomplish this is to get a receipt for every penny to spend, every time. Keep the receipts and put them in an envelope. At the end of each week, take out your receipts and break down what you have spent into categories. Some of the basic categories I use are:
- Entertainment
- Food
- Fuel and Auto Expenses
- Home Bills
- Reimbursable Expenses
HELPFUL TIP: One suggestion that may help you better make this sorting idea work for you is to have an envelope for each category you are using and putting the receipts into the correct envelope as you bring them home.
Once you have your receipts sorted you should have a real idea of how much money you spent that week. Now look deeper, especially into the negotiable expenses like food and entertainment. Specifically you should look for items that you may not need or could spend less by buying in another way. Fast food for example, should be eliminated in most cases. Bite the bullet and bring your lunch from home. Buy coffee on the way to work? Stop. It will cost you less to make it at home and bring a thermal mug with you. Most offices have coffee and you will survive the commute with a mug you brought from home.
This is a tough sticking point for a lot of frugal newbies – they don’t seem to understand that spending five bucks at the local fast food drive thru every day adds up quickly, and that by packing leftovers or even a sandwich at home to have for lunch can save you a lot of money!
While I am on that particular soapbox, I need to tell you to stop buying bottled water. Unless you live in third world country with filthy ponds as your only water source you are wasting money. If you are worried about contaminants in your tap water, get a filter. They’re cheap. Work with me here, people.
In order to get a handle on our spending, we have to know what we are spending and make some tough decisions. It takes dedication and most of all, will power. If you are truly dedicated to improving your financial situation though, it is entirely possible. Thousands of people are doing it every day and you can too, no matter what your situation is.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
bless your heart, darling! pure common sense equals frugal in my book. a trip to the family pizza parlor every week and rack up a major yearly bill…and if we all drank filetered tap water we would not only save money but would be living a greener life as well. look at our children too! those pricey cafeteria foods are making our children fat and sick. 2 children eating cafteria food at 2 bucks a day each is one bill bill for a lunch that usually ends up in the trash can. and parents need to put their kids on that school bus instead of letting the kids drive or driving their kids to school…tax dollars pay for that bus to be on the road whether kids ride or not…therefore, lets not waste our tax dollars! there are so many ways a person can be frugal and wise i am totally amazed how stupid some people can be.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:49 am
When I went on a diet, the first thing I did was take stock of everything going into my mouth so I knew what I was consuming.
I did the same when I started to cut our spending. Mr. claims he doesn’t spend his half of the “Misc.” part of a budget, but he just forgets about the monthly payment for his Warcraft account, the vending machine hit once or twice a week, the movie he saw with his buddies after work… It all adds up.
If you think you are being frugal but can’t figure out why your money keeps disappearing, it’s probably the little things that you toss the receipt (a trip through the drive-thru, that magazine you snagged off the newsstand, the muffin you saw in the bakery window) for that are getting you.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
if we remember life in the 40’s, 50’s and the 60’s (before 2 cars in every garage, 2 tvs in every home and what is a computer?) then try to live life as we did then we will be ahead. and we should be picking the memories of the elderly who survived the dust bowl, the depression and the world wars. suffering through peak oil and financial crisis can be diminished greatly if we take these lessons to heart.