What Is Your Frugal Roadblock?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 13 Jul 2008 07:18 AM
But all of us have roadblocks when it comes to frugality that prevent us from taking the next step, even though we may want to reach a new level of saving money. Perhaps it is a roadblock against buying anything used or from a thrift store. Perhaps it is a mounting credit card debt. Maybe it is the inability to cook or a lack of space for stockpiling. Whatever it is, I encourage you to try a take a step in the direction of overcoming that roadblock. Do something frugal in the area in which you struggle. Just remember that you can try something once and not go back to it if it doesn't work for you. Our big roadblock is eating out. I am willing to keep the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer. I stockpile food and make most meals from scratch. I buy used and get used for free. I use the library instead of buying. I don't smoke, drink or buy soda. We don't own a cell phone or a flat screen television. I practice the 75 things to do to save money. We don't go on vacation. But, and here is comes, we do eat out about once a week. No matter how we cringe at the expense or the labor of working to pay for a meal out, no matter how we tell ourselves after a restaurant meal, "never again," we still wind up somewhere out once a week. What is your frugal roadblock? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don't miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Can You Live on One Income? Calculating Food Savings Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments Tashi (1013) 13 Jul 2008 01:25 PMMy frugal roadblock is my favorite local used bookstore. Specifically, their clearance section. Sometimes the lure is too much for me to resist, and I get sucked in the vortex of the front door. But I rationalize some visits, by thinking, well, at least the books are used, cheap, the store often has coupons and sales, and I can always find super gifts at great prices there. I, too, don't smoke, I almost never drink, and I could spend my money in worse places. I'm feeding my brain, right? ;-)  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 14 Jul 2008 03:43 AMBooks aren't a bad vice to have. Have you tried making your list at the bookstore and then "shopping" at the library? Or, do you sell your books back to the store for credit? Often used bookstores will give more for credit than they will for cash. MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 25 Jul 2008 09:17 AMBooks used to be a bit of a roadblock for me, too. I started shopping the library and just reading blogs more and that definitely helped tremendously. The only time I really go crazy is if I attend the biannual library book sale. It's hard to even spend $50 bucks there, though, no matter how many books I buy (and even less now that I already have so many great books on subjects I'm interested in). Eating out also used to be a huuuuuuuge roadblock for my husband and I. We ate out many times a week, and rarely just at fast food places. When we arranged a once a week "date night" that was a huge improvement for us. Nowadays we rarely eat out (though he eats out on business trips since they pay for it). I don't know what changed for us, but mostly I think we just got lazy. Somewhere we figured out that cooking dinner at home is more convenient than going out, especially since most of our dinners are really simple. I've even cut way back on chocolate and my mead. Sooo.... my current vice? Shoes. I can't pass up a great pair of shoes, especially if they're in a great color. I love how they make the outfit, I love how sexy they make me feel, I love how they still fit even when I gain or lose weight, and I love how people go, "Cute shoes!" I have A LOT of shoes. Fortunately, I get almost all of them at Ross or T.J. Maxx, so they tend to be really great deals (often 50-75% off what I see them going for elsewhere). I try to stay out of the stores nowadays, though, unless I need clothes. That's helped some, of course. However, I'm not ready to give up buying shoes altogether and since I now have a fashion-related job, it's a good excuse to keep this vice. And yes, I do wear older pairs still. I think I do really well on everything else, though, so maybe that's the compromise. Memartha (306) 23 Feb 2009 03:24 PMBeef broccoli and egg fu yung. *sigh* Mary Ann Romans (26886) 23 Feb 2009 04:36 PMMeg--did you see this post about my Oxford heels? I just love them. http://frugal.families.com/blog/fashion-frugalista-alert-oxford-heels Mary Ann Romans (26886) 23 Feb 2009 04:37 PMLOL Memartha! I love Vegetable Egg Fu Yung. Fortunately we moved away from any decent Chinese resturants. Community Tags advice, frugal, save money, thrifty, Tips Discuss this article
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