One thing that I have learned while practicing frugal living is that you just can’t do everything. I am a big advocate of choice in frugality. You do what makes sense to you. Of course, that all goes out the window when you are in the middle of a crisis. Then you must do everything that you can to get out of it.
But all of us have roadblocks when it comes to frugality that prevent us from taking the next step, even though we may want to reach a new level of saving money. Perhaps it is a roadblock against buying anything used or from a thrift store. Perhaps it is a mounting credit card debt. Maybe it is the inability to cook or a lack of space for stockpiling.
Whatever it is, I encourage you to try a take a step in the direction of overcoming that roadblock. Do something frugal in the area in which you struggle. Just remember that you can try something once and not go back to it if it doesn’t work for you.
Our big roadblock is eating out. I am willing to keep the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer. I stockpile food and make most meals from scratch. I buy used and get used for free. I use the library instead of buying. I don’t smoke, drink or buy soda. We don’t own a cell phone or a flat screen television. I practice the 75 things to do to save money. We don’t go on vacation. But, and here is comes, we do eat out about once a week.
No matter how we cringe at the expense or the labor of working to pay for a meal out, no matter how we tell ourselves after a restaurant meal, “never again,” we still wind up somewhere out once a week.
What is your frugal roadblock?
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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