Friday, August 14, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009 | Posted by
Bebegirlz |
It's Frugal Friday!
This week's post is a cautionary tale. When you plunge deep into the world of penny-pinching it is easy to lose sight of what frugality really means. I remember the first time I ever checked out a dollar store. And the second time, and the third time, and the twentieth time. I could not believe the deals! I mean there was scads of junky items made in China, but there was also plenty of items I knew were worth way more than a dollar. But just because something is a "good deal" doesn't mean you need to buy it (or 3 or 5 of them, as it may be). If you are stopping by dollar stores and dropping $40 every week it is still spending $40. No matter if you leave with $95 worth of stuff! Money is money, no matter where you spend it. And dropping that kind of dough at any store (except for groceries) is silly when you are trying to live lean.
And what about all those drugstore deals? I know lots of ladies who play the drugstore game on a regular basis, snatching up "deals" on more toiletries than anyone will ever use in a lifetime. The only trouble with playing that game is that in order to make money, you have to put money out. I have been burned too many times on rebates that never came and registers that never printed out my credits/coupons. If you are low on funds, it is best to stay out of the game.
Frugality doesn't mean buying tons of stuff cheap. It means living within or below your means instead of beyond them. Being frugal is about focusing on what you need over what you want. It doesn't mean hoarding up stuff. Stuff is stuff, no matter how much you pay for it. And stuff will never make you happy. And you will never get out of debt or manage to truly save any money if you keep chasing stuff.
I'm just sayin'...
Wanna check out some other Frugal Friday tips? Head on over to Life As Mom for more!
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FRUGAL FRIDAY
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8 comments:
Great tip Niki!
I couldn't agree with you more. Money is money and if you don't have it you should be spending it! It doesn't matter if you have 20 tubes of toothpaste if you have to use your credit card to feed your family.
Great post!
Toni
http://thehappyhousewife.com
So true! Our family now stops to ask, "But do we NEED it?" before we buy anything!
That's funny that we both wrote about the same thing! Actually Being Frugal wrote about it yesterday too (http://beingfrugal.net/2009/08/13/a-deal-is-not-a-deal-when/).
As soon as I saw her article, I was hoping she didn't think that I stole the idea from her, since I had written mine last Saturday :-).
Great article with some great ideas :-).
I find it helps to take an inventory every few months. This tells me I have enough toothpaste to last until Christmas, but that I'm down to my last bottle of shampoo. Whenever possible, I like to keep my pantry stocked with at least one unopened version of something we use frequently (bought on sale, with a coupon, of course), which is backup to what is already opened. I think 'three months ahead' is plenty far enough in the future to look, because just about everything will go on sale again in that time frame.
I've never been able to figure out women who buy 17 bags of frozen fries, LOL!
What a great post! How easy it is for me to justify buying something just because it's a "great deal."
I played the drugstore game for a little while but, because I didn't buy things that I knew our family wouldn't use, I never had the fantastic deals that others did.
While I will stock up on products that we use on a regular basis if they're on a super sale, I've realized that I still have to budget my dollars and not buy 20 of something if I can really only afford 5.
You are also so right about the Dollar Tree. My best strategy is usually to only visit the aisle from which I need an item and not browse around - or I'm in trouble!!
This is a great topic and your article has great points. I have to keep myself in check with the drugstore deals but it can be done. Happy Friday!
And don't forget all the time and effort that goes into getting all those "deals." If you don't need them you are probably better off spending that time doing something else.
Great post. I am going to a big double coupon sale tomorrow. I have made a list and pull my coupons. I am going to be very careful because in preparing my list and checking prices this week I notice Krogers went up on their prices. Some things are better to wait till they go on sale and use my coupon at face value.
I have no problem throwing a coupon out. Just because I have a coupon doesn't mean i have to buy something.
Hus,
Elizabeth