Let's Get a Little Serious About Thrift and Frugality

     I practice, better on some days than others, a thrifty and frugal life, trying to contain my wants, focus on getting needs met  on a budget, and yes, letting myself and my family splurge every now and then. Our splurge might be different than your splurge or any one's else's and my frugal wins might seem like fool hearty expenses for others. We try to manage our funds so that we can max our retirement accounts, cash flow our daughters college, at least her undergrad degree, give to our church and charity, go on modest vacations and the occasional big trip, keep our house homey and in good repair, and share in joyful moments with friends and family through celebrations and gifts. Admittedly, we have been more fortunate than most-not just most in the whole world, but most in the United States, the richest country on earth. Let me get honest. I am thrifty and frugal to try and make my already nice and  yes, charmed life, a bit better. My spending challenges are for intention, but also for game and personal satisfaction. If I spent $100 more on groceries in a month, all other areas of my budget wouldn't really be impacted unless I chose to let them be by cutting back. 

     I read a ton of blogs on thrift ad frugality. Many are like me, people leading a financially secure life, but looking to ensure a solid retirement and a healthy quality of life in with their families. Some have been on the financial edge, and are using frugality to  get back to where they were before a job loss, divorce, or health crisis. Very few though are written from the perspective of someone just trying to keep their head above water. I regularly read Frugal Trenches, mostly for a catchup on how she and her children are doing, but not so much for money saving tips. She adopted three children with special needs plus has her own significant health needs that make her life anything but frugal on the best of days. Her post the other day, Not Achieving Goals Despite Long Term Frugality was a sobering reminder of  how my good fortune in life has most to do with plain luck, and virtually nothing to do with any great financial sense that I may possess. See, I have the luxury of playing grocery games of challenging myself to spend $300 on H&G for the month There is no risk or penalty of failing. I don't even have to pull money away from another  budget line item if I don't want to. Sure, a few bucks less might have gone in savings, or maybe we'll skip a take out, but for the most part I'll just write about it and give myself a new challenge. Where as spending $50 on parking at the hospital may result in the writer not being able to pay her heating bill on a given month.

     I understand to a certain point what Frugal Trenches is writing about knowing that without a few lucky moments, life could have been very difficult for me as well. While put on bed rest, losing weeks more of income than we planned, I made it to 37 weeks with my son, and he did not have any health issues, despite being so tiny. When we had two kids in diapers and barely made enough to cover all the expenses, there were shopping trips that I carried a calculator along making sure not to go over what we had in the checkbook. There was experimenting with the cheapest diaper I could find and not buying any new clothes despite changing jobs from teaching preschool to an office setting. Things got better though as one child then the other was toilet trained (instant cash flow boost) and our incomes went up. Then both kids were in school and the savings from child care went into me earning another degree, paying for itself with higher earnings. We could afford another child, our extra blessing, and all our children have been for the most part, healthy. Even when DH was unemployed for a while, we had my salary, which along with unemployment stretched to cover all the bills, even though we tapped into savings for college tuition for the older kids. As she writes, having two people to rely on when times get financially tough is in and of itself a vital piece of individual luck. 

Sometimes thrifty and frugality are tools to get closer to your families goals and even dreams. Its a great tool for getting over financial blips, particularly knowing that they are just blips and normal spending, if so desired, may resume in the future. I can't let myself forget and be cavalier or  nonchalant that sometimes the need to be thrifty and frugal is shear necessity for many families, and maybe for some of you reading my blog. I'll keep writing about my  efforts, perhaps though, nudging myself to remember that I truly have been lucky and most of my wins come down to that.