Leave no stone dime unturned.
“If you say that you will leave no stone unturned, you are emphasizing that you will try every way you can think of in order to achieve what you want.” ~ Collins Dictionary.
Being focused on handling our finances using the approach of A Dime at a Time, I prefer my version of this old saying! For years now, I have done a lot of blog reading related to frugality. Add watching YouTube to the mix, and that is a whole lot of frugality!
Lately, and seemingly more so on YouTube, the topic of “frugality overload” seems to be quite prevalent. Having yet to experience such a thing, I don’t quite understand it! I love finding and trying out new ideas to stretch our budget. Although I do grumble (a lot) about the ridiculous inflation we are experiencing, oddly, I also think of it as a challenge.
Perhaps I am looking at “frugality overload” all wrong. I think we all have different levels of frugality. One example would be our boat. Yes, we have one, and even with the rising cost of fuel, come this summer, we will still use it. No doubt there would be some people who would leave it parked on the boat trailer, all to save on fuel. Likely an extremely frugal person wouldn’t own a boat in the first place!
For me, being frugal is about finding a balance. I’m only guessing that is why I’ve yet to experience any sense of overload. Hubs, on the other hand, experiences frugality overload frequently. On more than one occasion, Hubs has commented, “Can we ever quit being (or talking about) frugality?” Sorry, Hubs, I don’t see that happening. We all have subjects we are passionate about, and this just so happens to be mine! Usually, all it takes is pointing out that we have much to be thankful for, and we do indeed have a balance. Thankfully (and also for me), this gives him a temporary pause to frugality overload!
So now I’m curious. Do you, your spouse, significant other, or children ever feel frugality overload? Do you get tired of watching your dimes, or is frugality something that you, too, enjoy?
Hi Lucy. I had some thoughts about this subject. We have always been frugal, and it was a different lifestyle than most of our friends through the years. I can remember thinking when I was younger “Does what we are doing really make a difference?” For a long time, I couldn’t see that it did. Our kids wore garage sale clothes, our vacations were visiting family, we didn’t have a lot of the things our friends did. But my kids had me at home, and we had no debt other than our mortgage and occasionally a car payment. Now that I am older, I have to say that it was all worth it. We are debt free, have been able to take a few nice vacations, and will be able to retire with dignity in a few years. I also got to the point where I didn’t care what people thought, I was going to be my real self and who cares? With the advent of the internet, I did find some new online friends, like you, who live a similar lifestyle. Some of them are younger moms who look to me as a mentor. I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with and so does hubby. We try to make decisions with that thought in the forefront of our minds.
Hi Chris. Great comment. I think the internet has been a blessing for the frugal community. We are not alone in our lifestyle! I love hearing what others are doing on their journey. I find that life isn’t all about what you have or don’t have. I don’t tend to use the word “sacrifice” when it comes to making frugal choices, as it almost makes frugality sound negative. I think of it as finding a healthy balance. Your family was better off for the choices you made, and you now have an excellent retirement to look forward to! Fantastic that you can now mentor the younger generation. As a Christian, I agree about being a good steward of the blessings we have received.
One day, Tommy was sick of frugality. He could not see stuffing the freezer. Now, mind you, we eat from it. But, we have to eat from it daily or there will be no room. He said he was tired of all this “scary stuff.” Innocently, I asked,
What scary stuff? He said all this buying more food and other things we need. He said, “We have enough food for a year!” I said, “I sure hope so and how is that bad? No, I don’t have frugality overload! He only has it once in a while and gets over it. Really, we do not have enough food for a year!
He voluntarily cuts coupons, searches ads for what we need that is on sale. So, he is in on this frugality and helps out.
Good for you for getting Tommy on board with frugality! Especially right now, I think it is wise to have a stockpile of food. Not hoarding (and it doesn’t sound like you are), but there is nothing wrong with having extra on hand. As for ads, coupons, and searching for better deals, I like knowing I’m getting the best value for my dollar. It sounds like Tommy is learning that lesson, too!
We have always had a boat. For our first anniversary of our marriage 42 years ago my wife wanted a small boat the two of us could carry down to small isolated lakes to fish. Since then we’ve always had a boat to fish from and later to water ski with our kids. Usually bought them used and for low costs. Now we have a nicer new one and use it frequently to fish in our retirement. Frugality to me doesn’t mean you can’t have anything. It just means you shop for value on the things that really add to your family’s happiness and don’t waste money on non priorities. You sound like you’ve got life figured out quite nicely. Great post!
“Frugality to me doesn’t mean you can’t have anything. It just means you shop for value on the things that really add to your family’s happiness and don’t waste money on non priorities.” You hit the nail on the head with that statement, Steveark!
Hubs and I have come a long way on our journey. There are still things we want to do and would like to get, but…we will do these things as we can afford them. I’ll happily make frugal choices, knowing that later we will reap the benefits of doing so.
I think after like 20 years of penny pinching I finally put myself on frugal overload! I was penny pinching and reading the Tightwad gazette first books before everything was available on the internet. The past few years I have finally given myself a little bit of a break on it – though I still always look for online coupons before ordering, try to use store brands, etc.
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But look where you are today as a result of penny-pinching! I think you are still a mindful spender, from what I read in your blog. And now that you no longer need to be quite as watchful, you have found a great balance!
I remember the TIghtwad Gazette. I used to subscribe to her newsletter, where you’d send her a SASE and a dollar! She had a lot of good ideas, but there were also some that I put in my “Nope, not going to happen” category. Lol That is one thing I like about the frugal community and the shared ideas. No one says you have to do everything to be frugal. Do what works for you and your family.
My ex-husband was a terrible spendthrift and nearly put us under, despite us having excellent salaries between us. Now that he’s been gone 10 years I sit on my bed with my bank statements laid out around me yelling “yay me, I’m still in the black”! But seriously, unless you’re in dire straits, I think the point of frugality is to not spend money on things that bring you no joy in order to spend it on the things you love. I could never see the point in spending a fortune to buy breakfast, lunch and coffee at work when I had everything I needed at home. When I saw what my ex and many of my colleagues spent my eyes nearly popped out of my head. But each to his own. I saved my money for travel – and paying my mortgage off 10 years early in order to retire!
Isn’t it insane what the cost of eating out can do to a person’s finances? How often do we read about how much a “$5 bucks” coffee habit (probably $7 bucks now with the inflation!) costs a person yearly? A life of restaurant food would be even higher! I hope your ex enjoys his meals out while he likely continues paying on a mortgage!
We seldom eat out for this very reason. So much cheaper and healthier to eat at home. With Hubs being OTR, he does have times when he has no choice but to eat out – mostly when his rig is in for repairs, which lately seems far too often. It never takes long to see what this does to our budget.
Good for you for knowing your priorities early on!