Why I'm Frugal

Living a frugal life is not always easy. You get raised eyebrows, funny remarks, people asking why and how. Even my own father teases me about having worms (compost worms). He says they have medicine for that.

Let them tease, let them question, I know that deep down they respect it. It is something that they haven't been able to do and wish they could.

So why am I frugal? At first it came because of necessity. But as we continued to live frugally we discovered MANY benefits. Too many to let the life style go. I will list my top seven below, in no particular order.

1. Teaching our kids the value of money, how to use it wisely, and let them learn how to use their own. (I will blog about that another time.)

2. Teaching our kids that you don't need "things" to have fun.

3. In the two years that we have adopted this life style we have saved quite a bit of money, payed down considerable debt, and were able to buy my DH a new car (with money saved by coupon shopping - love it!) We are aiming to be completely out of debt in 15 years or less.

4. Have become more enviromentally aware. By buying fewer "new" things and more recycled things (thrift store and yard sales) we have become to appreciate helping out the earth.

5. Have become more self reliant. We have a garden to cut down on costs of produce. This gives us the feeling that we are more able to take care of ourselves in an emergency situation.

6. It is FUN! Just like in Mary Poppins, if you find an element of fun in what you do it becomes a game. Our family LOVES to save money. Our kids get a thrill out of negotiating at yard sales and trash picking after them (an art I will talk about later too.) We congratulate each other on our skills and laugh at how cheaply we get things for.

7. It gives me a skill to become good at while I am at home raising our kids. It gives me a "brain exercise" to figure all of these things out, and it has financial benefits to boot. What more could I ask for?

I would love to hear why you love being frugal, your successes, and any of your tips. By starting a community of Frugal Friends we can help each other out.