Thirty Days
Have you ever noticed how many aspects of frugal living used to be considered just plain common sense?
At its very essence, frugality is the act of being a better steward of what you have whatever form it may take. That means that if you can use coupons (remember, they are free money) to spend less at the store, you do it.
That means if your clothes can be mended, it makes more sense (and cents) than tossing them in the trash (Hello…landfills, anyone?). That means if you do not need it, you spend time deciding how much you want it before making an impulse buy that may negatively affect your budget.
Isn’t that common sense? Maybe I was just raised differently, but it certainly looks that way to me.
In a day and age where people are working harder and bringing home less money, when family size is increasing and so is the size of the average mortgage payment (not to mention the skyrocketing numbers of home foreclosures in this year alone), I would like to issue a challenge to anyone who doubts the benefits of frugal living.
Give me thirty days. That’s it. One month of your time and I guarantee I can change your mind.
During your thirty days you should meet the following requirements to the best of your ability:
1. Do not make any extraneous or impulse purchases at all.
This is tougher than it may seem on the surface, because it includes everything from big screen televisions to buying a snack from the vending machine at work.
2. Make a shopping list and stick to it.
This is the toughest part to do for most people, but it is necessary in order for you to understand everything that you purchase on an average shopping trip that isn’t on your list.
Plan a menu for the week, make a list of any ingredients you need to purchase and purchase only those items.
3. Don’t eat out.
Okay, I know this one is going to drive the majority of you away right off the bat, so I am going to compromise a little – but only a little. You can eat at a restaurant once a week, but keep it to once and no more than that. This is where more money is wasted than anywhere else in the average budget.
4. Wash your own clothes.
If the clothes don’t say “Dry Clean Only”, they can be washed in your machine at home. Get out the iron and do a little back-and-forth once a week. Be strong, you can do it.
5. Save it.
Every time you avoid purchasing something that you would have done ordinarily, put that money in a jar (keep it separate!). Every soda you don’t buy, every snack you bring from home, every meal you don’t eat from the drive-thru, put that money in the jar.
At the end of the thirty days, count the money you have saved and tell me then that being frugal doesn’t make sense.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:43 am
We tend to live this way anyway. I do not make a grocery list, but I do have a menu in my head of what I plan on making. I also bend that menu in regards to what i find on sale. For instance, last week I saw link sausage and it had the 1.50 off coupon because it was close to being out of date. I purchased two packages, brought them home, and immediately froze them. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve gone to a dry cleaner in my entire life (usually to pick something up for someone else - ie. my mother), and I have no big screen or expensive vehicles. We have one car payment, the other is paid off, and we only eat out once a week for the kiddos (to McD’s or Wendys, and half the time we get the “sad meal”, which is what my kids call the meal we get off the dollar menu). We’re living, honestly, fairly frugally, and we’re still freaking out about having to pay oil this fall. Any tips on that one Michael?!
June 12th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Unfortunately I can’t answer that one, since I’m sure you will already be following the general frugal guidelines of not using it when you don’t have to, or keeping the heat a degree or two cooler than normal & wearing warmer clothing around the house.
Now can you tell me where to find gas that won’t cost me more than my monthly grocery bill? Sheesh, this is really getting ugly, isn’t it?
June 12th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Ugly isn’t the word! My water heater is connected to the boiler system, which runs on - you guessed it - oil. We’re debating on whether or not (or if we even CAN) get a pellet stove to heat the house. We have no idea if it’s more energy efficient or not!
June 13th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
[...] Nolan begins a recent post at Frugal Mania with this excellent question: “Have you ever noticed how many aspects of frugal [...]
June 19th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I am anal about sticking to the list and plan the supper menus ahead of time. I also price everything on the list ahead of time so know within a couple dollars what everything will cost. I used to do it out of necessity but now do it out of habit.
We rarely eat out either because the bill is just insane with six kids in total living here.
I don’t buy anything that needs dry cleaned and try not to get anything that needs ironed either.
I need to work on impulse buying outside of groceries though and saving. Good post.