Frugal GAB

So what prompted me to travel along a more frugal path?  Well, it started a few years back with some old debt (surprise, surprise) losing one job, taking a lower paying one, and having a child! When we decided that I would stay home with our last child, we knew we had to make some sacrifices along the way.  I am sure many of you can relate.

Now budgeting is something I always did, or so I thought. Really what I had done for many, many years was review the previous years spending, figure out what the monthly expenditures were for bills, put that amount in the bill paying account and use up the rest for all the other random stuff, like clothes, dining out and fun.  Hmmm,  a good start, but not a solid plan.

I really learned a better way to budget after doing the beta test for the Financial Peace University online course from Dave Ramsey.  Many people find Total Money Makeover more to their liking; I read the book, and it is very helpful as well. (tip: check it out at your local library) I understand when it comes to Dave, you either love him or hate him, but for me a lot of what he teaches works.  In upcoming posts I will touch on the points that really worked for us.

In order to live on less it became important to be more discerning on how our money was spent.  Naturally determining wants vs. needs became key.  As I share this journey with you I will talk more in detail on what has worked for us, and I hope you will chime in with your tips as well.

So are you with me? Are you following a more frugal path these days?

Often when one hears the word “frugal”  it conjures up a bunch of other words, a few of which are listed in your standard thesaurus:  thrifty, cheap, tightfisted,  miserly, stingy

Gee, is it me, or do they all sound so negative?

I prefer some of the more positive synonyms like: penny-wise, economizing, provident, prudent; or the definition in Merriam-Webster where it says: reflecting economy in the use of resources.

Now that sounds like being frugal is a very good thing!

So what do you think of when you hear the word frugal? Is it a positive or negative connotation? Do you call yourself frugal, or like others to think of you as such?