Being Frugal should NOT be like living in Lent for a lifetime. You can have “Mardi Gras” moments without overspending OR feeling guilty!
Consider the following examples:
Dining Suppose for one moment that you feel if you look at one more pasta dish, casserole, or ground beef based meal, consider buying steak or roast once a month for your family. Think you can’t afford it? Think again! You can buy a “bulk” pack of steak large enough to feed a family of four twice (or a family my size once) for ten dollars or less. That is the equivalent of $120.00 per year! Is it worth it? You decide! If this is something you WANT to have once a month, it’s not going to make or break your budget to do it once a month. I would never dictate to you what you should or should not eat, but eating things you don’t like all the time is bound to lead to some boredom. Consider your favorite meal(s) and see what can work for you, your family, and your budget. The only suggestion I wou ld make (based on personal experience) is to avoid things such as pizza, cheese steaks, hoagies (subs) etc. They tend to be pricier and lower in nutritional value.
Entertainment One of the most economical means of entertaining your family ,either as a couple or a family is movie rentals. You can borrow movies from most Public Libraries for no cost (or very lost cost). If you do not have this service at your disposal, you can rent older movies from much less than new releases at most video stores. My family never goes to the movies so we are sure to find movies we haven’t seen even in the very old selections. Be sure to check with local stores for discounts or free movie cards.
Board games can be expensive, however if you take care to keep the pieces together they can last years. If you take the number of times you use the games as a form of entertainment and divide the price, you will find that this is not as expensive as you might think.
Don’t forget about day trips in your area! It’s like a vacation but without the hassle (see my previous article for
Go To Page: 1 2
