We all have different reasons for trying to save money and live a frugal life. But too often, we focus on the deprivations of living frugally, such as not being able to eat out often, or living without cell phones and cable television. But this is the wrong attitude. Frugal living is a blessing in many ways.
It fosters appreciation
Just the other day, my family and I were at a local park and everyone was having a great time. I felt completely blessed to have this great free resource nearby. In the past, before living frugally, I wouldn’t have thought twice about the blessings of having a park or anything else for that matter. There are so many other little things in the day that I can now appreciate and get great enjoyment from a cup of coffee after church last Sunday to an entire week at our friend’s beach house last summer.
It allows for the blessing of others
Watching our pennies and saving money means that we have more of a means to help others. And while we are still working on being more generous, I love the fact that some of the savings can go for good causes. This can be expressed in little ways, from being able to shop at a thrift store for an entire wardrobe for a family in need to being able to have extra change for someone in front of you in line at the grocery store who finds themselves a little short on cash.
It contributes to the well-being of out planet
Many, if not most, of the things that we do while living frugally can reduce our impact on the environment. Buying used items, reusing and recycling old items into new uses, not using paper products, cooking from scratch, and hanging laundry all give us the opportunity to go green while saving money.
How have you been blessed by frugal living?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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