By Karen L. Harris
The dawn of a new year is a perfect time to review your lifestyle and take steps to make any necessary
changes. While most people resolve to loose weight or control their finances, I am resolving to lead a more frugal
life. Perhaps my resolution list will help you make cost-cutting changes to your life as well.
1) I resolve to NOT pay for convenience.
When I worked full-time, I admit, I paid top dollar for convenience. When time was a premium, I never
mashed my own potatoes or made a pizza from scratch. I paid someone else to. Now that I work from home and
have embraced a frugal lifestyle, I have tried to skip the convenient short-cuts. I peel and slice the regular carrots
rather than buying the pre-peeled baby carrots. I make pancakes and muffins from scratch rather than from a
store-bought mix. I grate my own blocks cheese because bags of shredded cheese are more costly. I'm already
doing OK in this department, but there is room for improvement. I still buy pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce in jars.
I resolve to start making my own. I make homemade soup, but I buy cans of chicken broth when I know I can make
my own. I'm really good about packing a lunch if I'm going to be out all day, but I almost always stop somewhere
for a quick breakfast. Yes, I still pay for convenience in a lot of areas. I resolve to stop paying for these
conveniences.
2) I resolve to take advantage of free events in my community.
I live in a small village, but it is not far from a larger city, where there are parks, museums, college
campuses and so on. Currently, I do go to the local library once or twice a week for books and video. I also take my
youngest daughter to story hour and we've gone to some of the concerts, lectures and special events they've had in
the evenings. But there are many other community activities that are free or next-to-free that I still don't take
advantage of...but I resolve to. The sports museum has free admission on Tuesdays, yet I've only been there on
weekends. The college campus has walking and jogging trails through the woods. The old mansion museum offers
a once a month "teddy-bear tea" for young children. The candy factory has free tours with chocolate samples.
There is ice skating and sledding at a county park. All of these things are either free or cost less than $5 and I
