Frugality is a Trendy Lifestyle Choice

The process of becoming Frugal doesn't happen overnight. Just like a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. So does any change you make to yourself and your lifestyle. No one changes overnight. So don't beat yourself up if you can't do it all, everytime.

The changing ecomony has caused troubling financial times for many. Lots of people are now looking to make every dollar count. Being Frugal has gone Mainstream. I have been doing the "in thing" even before it was "in". I feel so trendy.

As many look to change how they view money, it can be frustrating to try to change too many things at once. You are setting yourself up for failure. I once read somewhere that you shouldn't try to save money and lose weight at the same time. You won't be able to be successful at both simulateously because they are both require significant changes and long-term commitments. You need to choose one thing- focus on it until it becomes the "normal routine" and you can accomplish it with out thinking too much about it. Them move onto the next big change.

Over my 2 years of being frugal I have made minor changes, little-by-little. It has made the change easy. I always say it is easy to be frugal- I think because by making small changes one or two at a time, there was no BIG/Difficult undertaking to overcome. As I continue in my Frugal Journey I think of each change as just one more step in my journey of 1000 miles.

The best place to start in the frugal world is to track your money for at least one month. Write everything down that you spend money on- everything! That morning paper, the cup of coffee, the candy candy bar from the vending machine and your bigger expenses like rent and your electric bill . Once you have a full month of "money watching" written down. You need to analyse what you spent money on. Many people can tell you that last month their electric bill was $82 but if you asked what they spent eating out- they can't - or at best can give you a ballpark figure- but in reality have no idea. When you write it all down you can see where those "leaks" are -where the money keeps going that you don't realise. Once you have all the numbers - take some time and look at all those things you spent money on, make categories (eating out, entertaining, gas, clothing, medical prescriptions etc..) and then you can see where you might be able to make cuts. Or you may be surprised at how much you are spending in certian areas.

When I did this, I though I knew where my money was going and where it was "being wasted". After I added up all my numbers that first month. I realised I was spending a fortune on groceries. ($600 that month). The next month I took a better look at my grocery shopping. I realised that if I just bought what was on my list I really only needed to spend about $125/wk- not $150. That "extra $25" was on "inpulse" buys. You know when you get there and you see something marked down and think-"well... it's on sale and we all like this.. so I'll get 3!" I also picked up more non-grocery items, like maybe a DVD. I tried to change this by making a list and sticking to it. The next month I did better, but not perfect. I spent less but still had trouble staying to ONLY the list. When paying with a credit card or debit card- it is easy to go over the planned $ amount. The next month I did a "cash only" grocery shopping for one month. I only took $120 in cash each week with me for groceries. This worked well- but was inconvient. It also highlighted a HUGE hole in our budget. I did not always have enough CASH to pay for $120/wk in groceries. I realised that in reality I put about half of my groceries each month on credit cards!! One of my first true "A-HA!" moments in dealing with our budget. I realised that I would need to lower my grocery budget even further (which didn't seem possible at the time) so it showed me we really needed to cut something somewhere ELSE! and ASAP!

So try it for one month. Track EVERY PENNY! And don't lie- you're only really lying to yourself.
For some- this may seem tedious. But to make it easy stick up a sheet of looseleaf on the fridge and each night when you get home write down everything you bought. (how much you spent and what you spent it on). It doesn't need to be neat- legible- but not neat. Dates are not required. If you fill up that sheet of looseleaf- flip it over or start another one. Do it everynight- or you'll surely forget something. Remember- if you "cheat" you are only lying to yourself. And you deserve better than that!

After the holidays this year- my grocery budgets have been crazy!! I write down all my grocery reciepts because I am still trying to figure out if Bulk-buying at BJ's is saving me any money. It is definately saving me time- and is way more convient that my ususal shopping at Wal-mart. But I have yet to truely decide how much it is saving me. I do know it is not costing me MORE than I was spending at wal-mart. I will save all the numbers for another post- this one is getting long. But I do want to analyse how my BJ shopping is going.