Frugal Living: Struggles and Motivations
We're a few weeks into our adventure of frugal living, and although things are going well, they haven't come without a hiccup or two.
Disney Plus and Spotify Premium are officially out of our lives (and our budget) and we have one week left until we say goodbye to Netflix. Honestly, it feels good. We especially love the fact that when we set up our budget for March, we didn't need to include those monthly entertainment bills! I won't pretend I didn't have a little anxiety over losing Spotify though! But I'm surviving thanks to YouTube and the free version of Spotify. I also find myself spending more time listening to free podcasts, and therefore I'm learning more throughout my day.
This mama has been a busy bee baking and cooking up a storm! Bread, muffins, granola bars, big batches of soups, stews, and chilis... all a lot of work but with great benefit to our hungry littles and our bank account! I was able to find a breadmaker from a friend that worked AMAZINGLY until it didn't. That was a very sad day, but determined, I have continued to experiment and make my own bread with the help of my KitchenAid Mixer (which I got on sale off of Amazon years ago and have never regretted it). I believe the words, "Mom, this is the best bread in the entire world!!" were used. Aww yeah.
We have revamped our monthly budget a couple of times (I think it will always be evolving) and quite honestly have been blown away with how much we are actually able to save/invest. It's pretty amazing what a budget can do, and we love this one from Google Sheets. It was a little bit of a pain transferring everything over the first time, but once I got started and saw how easy it would make our budgeting, I actually had way too much fun. It forces us to input every purchase in manually (which we feel is necessary for us), it's easy to use, and it's visually appealing! Highly recommend.
And now for the hard stuff. There have been a few times where I've felt the pressure to keep up with the Joneses. From birthday gifts to vacations, I've felt the stress that comes with looking right and left at what my friends are doing. I would LOVE to be able to buy all my friends the most incredible gifts and buy plane tickets to see family or go on a trip with friends, but there are so many factors that need to be considered before we can think of dropping money like that. Will my friends think I don't love them as much as I do if I don't buy them a fancy gift like some of their other friends will? Will my family or friends think we don't care about them if we choose not to go into debt in order to buy plane tickets? Of course not (or at least we sure hope not haha)! And if they do, that's a heart issue of their own.
Although I have felt this stress and pressure (not put on me by anyone but myself) to spend like everyone else when it comes to certain things, I'm thankful that we have clear priorities and open communication about finances so that I could be reminded of our family goals. I'm also thankful I have amazing family members and incredible friends who support us and our frugal pursuits!
In somewhat related news, our youngest son Iver is due for another heart intervention soon. If you don't know, he was born with two complicated congenital heart defects and had three open-heart surgeries in the first two years of his life. We live almost 3 hours from the children's hospital and need to travel for all his appointments and surgeries, and therefore need to set aside money for travel expenses, food, and accommodations for all of his procedures and appointments. All this to say that we are feeling extra motivated to save every extra penny as we approach another season of uncertainty with his health.
The struggle is real, but so is the motivation. I'm so thankful that we have been making changes and implementing little life hacks in order to live a more frugal lifestyle. It's surprisingly exciting and we have especially enjoyed the community of interest and support found through social media and this blog. Thank you for following along and participating in our journey!
Disney Plus and Spotify Premium are officially out of our lives (and our budget) and we have one week left until we say goodbye to Netflix. Honestly, it feels good. We especially love the fact that when we set up our budget for March, we didn't need to include those monthly entertainment bills! I won't pretend I didn't have a little anxiety over losing Spotify though! But I'm surviving thanks to YouTube and the free version of Spotify. I also find myself spending more time listening to free podcasts, and therefore I'm learning more throughout my day.
 |
| RIP beloved bread machine bread |
This mama has been a busy bee baking and cooking up a storm! Bread, muffins, granola bars, big batches of soups, stews, and chilis... all a lot of work but with great benefit to our hungry littles and our bank account! I was able to find a breadmaker from a friend that worked AMAZINGLY until it didn't. That was a very sad day, but determined, I have continued to experiment and make my own bread with the help of my KitchenAid Mixer (which I got on sale off of Amazon years ago and have never regretted it). I believe the words, "Mom, this is the best bread in the entire world!!" were used. Aww yeah.
We have revamped our monthly budget a couple of times (I think it will always be evolving) and quite honestly have been blown away with how much we are actually able to save/invest. It's pretty amazing what a budget can do, and we love this one from Google Sheets. It was a little bit of a pain transferring everything over the first time, but once I got started and saw how easy it would make our budgeting, I actually had way too much fun. It forces us to input every purchase in manually (which we feel is necessary for us), it's easy to use, and it's visually appealing! Highly recommend.
And now for the hard stuff. There have been a few times where I've felt the pressure to keep up with the Joneses. From birthday gifts to vacations, I've felt the stress that comes with looking right and left at what my friends are doing. I would LOVE to be able to buy all my friends the most incredible gifts and buy plane tickets to see family or go on a trip with friends, but there are so many factors that need to be considered before we can think of dropping money like that. Will my friends think I don't love them as much as I do if I don't buy them a fancy gift like some of their other friends will? Will my family or friends think we don't care about them if we choose not to go into debt in order to buy plane tickets? Of course not (or at least we sure hope not haha)! And if they do, that's a heart issue of their own.
 |
| frugal mama |
Although I have felt this stress and pressure (not put on me by anyone but myself) to spend like everyone else when it comes to certain things, I'm thankful that we have clear priorities and open communication about finances so that I could be reminded of our family goals. I'm also thankful I have amazing family members and incredible friends who support us and our frugal pursuits!
In somewhat related news, our youngest son Iver is due for another heart intervention soon. If you don't know, he was born with two complicated congenital heart defects and had three open-heart surgeries in the first two years of his life. We live almost 3 hours from the children's hospital and need to travel for all his appointments and surgeries, and therefore need to set aside money for travel expenses, food, and accommodations for all of his procedures and appointments. All this to say that we are feeling extra motivated to save every extra penny as we approach another season of uncertainty with his health.
The struggle is real, but so is the motivation. I'm so thankful that we have been making changes and implementing little life hacks in order to live a more frugal lifestyle. It's surprisingly exciting and we have especially enjoyed the community of interest and support found through social media and this blog. Thank you for following along and participating in our journey!
Do you ever struggle with the pressure to keep up with the Joneses?
What do you do to rise above that stress and pressure?
What do you do to rise above that stress and pressure?
Leave us a comment!
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