Search Results for: blog a frugal mentality

Recession Giving Birth to More Frugals

With all of the changes in personal economic outlook do to high gas prices, high food prices and high everything-related-to-food-or-fuel prices, the majority of consumers are changing their spending habits and becoming more frugal. According to a news report by AP news, many of those new”frugals” are planning to remain frugal, even if their financial outlook improves. The research company Nielsen Co, tracks consumer habits. It says that about 63 percent of consumers are cutting their spending. In the AP article, former spendthrifts are taking drastic measures to curb shopping, such as applying shoe glue to a peeling sneaker sole, … Continue reading →

Financial Pitfalls: The New Car Mentality

One big financial pitfall is the new car mentality. Many people like to drive new cars and feel they need the safety and security. Here are four myths that support the new car mentality. 1) Many people feel that they need the latest model car. A new car is a status symbol. There is a certain feeling of accomplishment when you drive a brand new car off of the lot. You have achieved something. But you have also lost something. The average new car depreciates two thousand dollars the second you drive off the lot. If you have two thousand … Continue reading →

Can You Be Too Frugal (2)

There is no such thing in my mind, as being too frugal. In fact, when you look up dictionary.com’s definition for frugal, they pull from other resources to get several definitions. The third listed is my favorite, cited from WordNet. frugal adj : avoiding waste; “an economical meal”; “an economical shopper”; “a frugal farmer”; “a frugal lunch”; “a sparing father and a spending son”; “sparing in their use of heat and light”; “stinting in bestowing gifts”; “thrifty because they remember the great Depression”; “`scotch’ is used only informally” Why do I love this definition so much? Because it points out … Continue reading →

Can You Be Too Frugal? (1)

Very often I hear about how frugal I am. And the statement or question, I hear the most often is “Can you be too frugal?”. I choose to address this question, simply because there isn’t a definitive yes or no answer. And because I plan to do a series of articles revolving around organizing all the frugal things you save. A question came in recently that was quite unusual from my typical frugal living questions. I was asked “Why do you choose to write organizing articles in the frugal living area?”. That is a great question actually, and I’d love … Continue reading →

Dollar Store Budget Busters

I love a good sale; however, to save money when buying discounted merchandise, you really have to exercise self-control. Lack of self-restraint is one of the biggest reasons many people overspend when they are shopping at a sale, or even a Dollar Store. Or in my case, especially a Dollar Store. I challenge anyone to walk into a Dollar Store with the intent to purchase a single item and not leave with a basket full of other junk. I fail every.single.time. Why is it that I can’t go into that store to buy one can of rug cleaner and leave … Continue reading →

Timely Wisdom From The Great Depression

In these tough economic times, we may come to a point where we feel like we are fresh out of ideas for ways to save money and make our dollars go further. When this happens, it may be useful to look back in time and call upon the wisdom of our ancestors who survived the Great Depression. If you are lucky enough to know someone who lived during that time, they probably have many stories to tell about how they got through those lean years. Some of the things that people did during the Great Depression make just as much … Continue reading →

Taking Inventory to Save Money

Even frugal people can go overboard without intention. Then you wind up spending extra money on things that you don’t need. I used to be guilty of this all of the time, and I still have to be careful about it. By thinking ahead and using a few minutes to take inventory, you can save yourself some money and some hassle. Last weekend, my family and I made a stop at one of the huge children’s outgrown sales in the area. This sale is always packed with tons of clothing, shoes, toys and equipment of all kinds. The sale can … Continue reading →

Merging Your Eating Habits

Unless the two of you met at an organic free-range food compound or an all-you-can-eat fried buffet, chances are pretty good that the eating styles of yourself and your spouse when you came into your marriage were different. You may not agree on the types of food you like, or even whether to eat out or at home. Aside from being short order cooks and making different meals or stocking food in separate refrigerators, how do you manage one household with two different approaches to meals? Here are some of the experiences of having two different eating styles, based on … Continue reading →

How to Make Sure You Don’t Get Stuck at the Thrift Store

If you are familiar with my blogs, you know that I do a lot of thrift store shopping. And you also know that January is a favorite time of my to do thrift store shopping. We hit the Goodwill today in between other errands. Unfortunately for us, the store was completely crowded, with people everywhere fighting over everything. This is not the way we like to shop. With the economy the way it is, many new people are discovering shopping at thrift stores. When you are in this environment, it is easy to get into the “grab it quick” mentality. … Continue reading →

Don’t Buy Cheap

One of the things that can be said about my household is that we try not to have anything cheap. That doesn’t mean that we spend a lot of money on stuff, it just means that we aim for good quality for things no matter what they are or how we acquired them. Something in frugal living, it is easy to go for the dollar store mentality, shopping for things that are cheap. Personally, unless there is no way around it, we would rather do without than afford something that is not up to snuff. For example, we went without … Continue reading →