I’ve been talking about how an attitude of gratitude is important when living frugally. if you missed the first part of this topic, please click here: An Attitude of Gratitude. I really appreciate all of the great comments on that post!
Here are two instances in the same day just this week that illustrate how good things may happen when you are grateful.
The first was on a trip to the library to pick up some books and a movie. The person ahead of me had a large stack of books to check out, so I decided to browse around. I went straight to the back of the library. There, right out in the open was an absolutely brand new copy of a book I had been wanting. It was for sale at the library for 50 cents. The retail price was $24.95.
We next needed to stop at a certain store to purchase one of those last minute requests from my son’s teacher. My son came home announcing that the next day was friendship day and he needed a $1 gift. My gift closet was pretty bare, so we combined our errands and included getting this friendship gift on the list of our stops. Well, my husband, who is great at directions and has driven to that store before happened to miss the turn. Rather than the hassle of going all the way around to get to the original destination, we decided to go to a different store hoping it would have what we needed. Not only did it have the perfect gift, but it also had containers of light up glow bracelets that the kids really wanted for an upcoming outdoor event. I looked at these bracelets online earlier that day and saw that they were $30 for a package of 45. This store, instead, had them for only $1 per packaged of 15. I picked up three packages for $3 and saved 10 times the amount. I enjoy when these little opportunities come about.
My husband always jokes about the fact that anything we seem to need, whether it is a particular piece for a toy, a tool, a camera tripod, new boots for my oldest son, whatever, that it generally shows up at the thrift store or a yard sale within a couple of weeks. Some of it of course has to do with being open to shopping at these places, but I think that the more we are grateful, the more bounty will come in to our lives.
Perhaps these little things might seem silly when you are trying to combat rising food and gas prices. But, maybe you can take a look at the point of it all. The next time you put a meal on the table using food bought on sale, or wash a load of baby clothes that were given to you, focus on an attitude of gratitude and how wonderful it is that you have these things.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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