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Are Frugal Sacrifices Worthwhile?
Thursday April 17, 2008 by Danelle IceA cashier once asked me where I got all my coupons. I told her I printed them online, and she said, “Wow! You’re so lucky…” It struck me as an odd thing to say, and I told my husband that exact thought. What would luck have to do with me spending the time to print out coupons? As if anyone couldn’t do it…
This distant memory popped back into view as I read Catherine’s article at Frugal Homemaker Plus: Frugality and Luck. Once you read it, you’ll know why it reminded me of the cashier story! The choices we make to be deliberate with our actions and our money have nothing to do with luck. Sacrifices are born of determination, will, focus, and strong, concrete goals.
My husband and I gladly skip movie rentals and eating fast food with the knowledge that the money we save by sacrificing is going to buy our family a home. Owning a home is important to us and that gives our money meaning, making our sacrifices worthwhile.
Conversely, what if you live a strict frugal lifestyle, denying yourself vacations and life experiences when all of your basic needs are already met? If your goals have already been reached, and you continue to deny yourself the use of your money “just because it’s better to save,” remember that money only has the value you give it. If your savings account is robust when you die, but you never did the things that were important to you, you will have lost the meaning of your frugality.
At times, we can start to feel down (see article “When Budgeting Gets You Down”) about choosing to not do things or not buy things. When people around you get satellite dishes and go out to fancy dinners every week, it is easy to feel deprived. Sometimes we even wonder how they can afford to spend money on these things when they don’t appear to make any more money than we do. My husband and I remind each other at that point that they are probably living above their means, incurring credit card debt, and living for the moment instead of for their future goals. In a society where consumption is rampant and living above your means on borrowed money is the norm, frugal families are bound to feel out of place.
Homemaker Barbi Says: Keep Your Goals Visible to Make Your Sacrifices Worthwhile!
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Danelle Ice said on May 2nd, 2008 @ 5:18 pm:
@Happy Housewife:
I agree. Saving has become a fun activity that gives us a much better feeling than the empty feeling you get from spending on things that don’t make sense… Thanks for the perspective!
Homemaker Barbi
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The Happy Housewife said on April 19th, 2008 @ 11:13 am:
Danelle-
You make a great point. I think living a frugal lifestyle is impossible to maintain without having well defined goals. If you are a tightwad, “just because” I think the tendency would be to turn into a miser or scrooge. When we were getting out of debt and really pinching our pennies it was more fun to send an extra amount of money to Sallie Mae than to get a hamburger and a movie…
Great post!
Toni