Since I did not post anything in 2010, I think it is not yet too late to put 2010 into perspective before it ends. When it comes to being frugal and making wise financial choices, I find that the struggles of 2008 that continued on for the most part of 2009 opened my eyes. Heck, I talk about being frugal, but do I emanate the ideals? Furthermore, is being a tightwad only means penny-pinching, looking for deals, sales, etc?
I learned from past experiences that if you find a sale, it's only good if you're going to use it. However, at times I am guilty of buying items on sale thinking that it will be put to good use "someday." Unfortunately, "someday" does not happen often that my so-called "sale" was just an extra wasted expense. This awakening gave me the chance to reassess my ways and learn the real value of sales. Now, I don't buy things simply because they're on sale, but because I really need or use them.
I still continue to avoid the malls and retail shops. I avoided them like plagues in 2009. The more I don't go, the less I spent. I try to get my husband and daughter to do the same thing. We paid cash on all our purchases, so it was necessary to really avoid places where we may get an urge to spend. They have improved, although, many times they still could not resist going. They're a work in progress. I know that for me to be successful, the change does not only have to happen with me...it should be our goal as a family. I am sure together we can make better progress.
Don't get me wrong, they try. We have our movie days and eating out days. We pick the movies that we'll watch at the theater and wait for others to come out on DVDs. We rent ones we don't think will be keepers, we buy only those we think would be good to have in our collection. We often buy them on sale, at the cheapest stores (often at Walmart).
When we have to buy food at drive thrus we only buy the meals and skip the drinks. We bring our drinks in the car, sometimes, our own snacks too. I cook more these days. It saves a lot of money. In addition, eating at home is healthier too.
I will enter different topics of savings we have done in hopes of helping others save up too. Topics such as switching cell phone carriers, discontinuing our landlines, etc.
Summing it all up, the latter part of 2009 was much better than 2008. In 2010, we have also gotten better than the years before. I am hoping that in 2011...we'll do triple times better in order to live almost debt-free.
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