Monday, December 27, 2010

Tightwad Tuesday: Buying your freedom through frugality

 I'm continuing to read through my old copy of The Tightwad Gazette to prep myself for 'The Most Frugal Year' of my marriage.  There were some real nuggets of encouragement in the article called, "They call me "The Frugal Zealot". These were my favorites...

~ "Saving money, rather than earning money, became the means to my goal".
~ "Certainly the recycling of aluminum foil did not greatly contribute to our dream.  Rather it was the attention to all the thousands of ways we spent our money that made a tremendous difference."
~ "Over the years our average income had been less than $30,000..In less than seven years we saved $49,000, made significant purchases(vehicles, appliances, furniture) of $38,000 and were completely debt free"!

Amy states that frugality is a means to her goal. That's a good question to ask.. why am I practicing frugality? What is MY goal for frugality? For me personally...  it's the means I use to (hopefully) secure my position to remain a homemaker. I have a daily choice on how I spend the money that comes into our home. If I can save more money than I spend then my chances of not having to work full-time may be accomplished (Lord willing).


A family member once said it would drive her crazy to pinch every penny.I actually enjoy the challenge of cutting expenses and living below our means. I like finding new ways (and sometimes untraditional) to meet needs in my family on little to no money.

How about you? What is your goal? How does saving money or stretching your husband's income help meet that goal?

14 comments:

  1. I don't have a problem saving money or being frugal. We are like you, we have to watch our pennies. We don't have a choice and yet I like it just the way it is. Being on a fixed income that is very small, it's a challenge and yet has made us much stronger as a family. Hope 2011 is a great year for you. Hugs

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  2. Sometimes you have to spend money to save money. For example, we are putting money into our gas guzzler to have greater fuel efficiency.

    My husband thought that he didn't get me enough for Christmas, but you, know I was happy with what his personal shopper had gotten me. (I am his personal shopper.) So yesterday we went out and got a couple of white baskets which I collect and use--at 60% discount.

    Godliness with contentment is always great gain.

    Hugs,
    Carol

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  3. One of my goals is to remain home too, since I have health issues. Working would really negatively affect my health, so anything I do to help my husband boosts his income and makes life better for us in general. He's the earner and I'm the budget lady and expert dollar stretcher! ;) Lyn

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  4. Things got a little better for me for a while, but I have to pull in again. My goal is to learn to make better choices so that I can stretch my money farther. It's a process for me. I'm starting by trying not to spend any extra money in January. I'm always trying to get my food budget under control. I guess my goal in to continue to be self-sufficent.

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  5. Greetings from Southern California.

    I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to :-)

    God Bless You, ~Ron

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  6. I've just finished reading what you've written to me on my blog, ....and I thank you very much!

    Thank you!

    When our children were home, I would frequently tell them that nothing stays the same....now I'm tell myself ...but like you said, .... I'm so thankful that our God is always there for us and always the same.

    Blessings to you and your family!

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  7. You are a winner of my book, "Getting Off the Niceness Treadmill". How do I mail a copy to you? I realize you are in the process of moving--so exciting for you. I can mail it to one of your children's home or wherever you wish. E-mail me your preference. Thanks.

    Hugs,
    Carol
    cjohnson370@tampabay.rr.com

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  8. In answer to your question my on my blog:

    I get the King Authur brand of flour at my local Publix Food Store. I believe you can buy whole wheat flour at any Walmart Supercenter (not sure about the smaller Walmart stores).

    You should be able to find 100% hydroxide crystals (LYE) at Ace Hardware Store in the isle for cleaning drain lines supplies, perhaps other stores, Lowes, Home Depot (not sure).

    Happy Hew Year,
    Gerry

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  9. My goal is to buy my freedom. I would love to just work when I want to, not because I have to. I hate the rat race and I'm looking forward to getting pregnant soon and providing "mommy care" only for my child. I also hope to visit far flung places in the world that I've always dreamt about like Thailand!

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  10. I too like to challenge myself to do things less exensively. I make it like a game. There is no use being grim about it. Might as well smile. I got TWG when it was a newsletter that came in my mail box. Love her! Wish she was still writing. She said she ran out of new things to write about but I still wonder if she could add lots more! Sarah

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  11. For us, frugality is about security, and being able to separate wants from needs. After our last child we went from being a dual law enforcement family to having me stay home with the kids (after expenses we figured out I was working for less than $400/month).

    Our goal is to pay off all our debts, including the mortgage, in six years. Then we intend to work part-time when we feel like it, and spend more time with the kids and each other.

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  12. I know this is an older post.. I'm working on putting my little bitty savings in the bank, so I 'see' it more. I also have a hidden agenda. ;) I'm trying to teach the younger women in my family how they can find little bits of savings and set it aside. They are all living on small incomes and having babies.. and I don't think realize the potential for turning small habits into nest eggs. I started to blog about it the past couple weeks. I've been putting my little stashes in the bank and have over $400 saved so far. :)

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  13. Checking back on this post again. :) My 'savings' helped us in our goal of getting a new home. From now on everything I save & what I earn in my etsy shop is going to go toward trying to pay down the mortgage on our new place before Hubby retires. So I'm going to try to find a way to save enough for an extra premium payment. this means scratch cooking, DIY'ing, and looking at new ways to make $ in my shop. I just did my first set of wedding invitations, and hope to soon have a line of paper items to complement my wood items. everything adds up. :) Also--I'm thinking I will give our adult kids each a little battery operated coin separator and coin rolls & a battery charger for Christmas. So they can start getting in the habit of saving little bits. :)

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  14. I have decided to read your blog from the beginning. I too enjoy the challenge of saving money to help the family. It was a way of life when I was growing up and we continued it when we married. I rally enjoy your blog and have found many new ideas. As we all know many of the frugal hints have been round for ages just mentioned over and over! :) On to my reading! Sarah

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