Frugal-Gal's 1st spending SPREE!

So I made it through another weekend.  I wish I could say I was as good about my spending as I want to be, but that is not the truth.  I’ve decided that frugal or not, this year is going to have its surprises. 

I had a surprise from a good friend of mine this weekend.  Now the surprise is a still a secret so I can’t reveal that just yet, however the news prompted me to buy some flowers, a card and take her out to dinner.  You can probably guess how my budget felt this weekend – STRETCHED!  I worried about it some as I drove home from my extravagant evening out ($25 at The Spaghetti Factory, $25 for a bouquet of flowers, $5 for a card) and how I would tell my readers.  This is the most I’ve spent on a weekend since I started my “frugal year.”  Granted, this is only weekend #2 in the frugal year.  However, that stresses me even more.  How is it possible I have spent extra money and it is only week 2??  HOW!?!

I think the lesson I should learn from this weekend is this: life happens.  I can have all of the best intentions, but I can’t predict life.  I would prefer to be the kind of person who celebrates life over one who cares so much about money I can’t celebrate in a good friend’s good news.   Although, I know in there will be times in the future I will have to make harder decisions when it comes to spending.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to share this good news with the world soon enough. 

Check back often – I hope to have another awesome money adventure in the near future.

Frugal-Gal and Frugal-BFF create a TV show!

I got together with my Frugal-BFF this weekend for coffee.  It’s the first time we’ve gotten together to talk about this blog since I started it a week ago.  As we sat with hot cups of coffee in hand this is the discussion we had:

Frugal-BFF: Love your blog.  I think you need to up the stakes, though. 

Frugal-Gal: Up the stakes?

BFF: Yeah, just imagine with me: Extreme makeover Frugal-Gal edition.

FG: So I call up yummy Ty Pennington and tell him: HELP!  I need a debt intervention?

BFF: I was thinking we capture all of your heartbreaking moments on video: you - walking by a Starbucks with your hands empty and a grief stricken look on your face.  Another shot of you slowly driving by Nordstrom and looking into your empty wallet.  We’ll pull at the heartstrings of every American.  Then we’ll show you budgeting and cooking at home, making your own lattes, and shopping in the clearance sections.  We’ll pitch it as a show

FG:  My own TV show. ..do you think I’ll get a new wardrobe?  A hair and make-up person?  FREE STUFF??!?!

BFF:  Maybe, or you might just help people?

FG: I’ll do it.  Let’s get right on it.

(Pause)

BFF: One more cup of coffee first?

FG: Done.

Frugal-Gal finds her Frugal-BFF

This morning my best friend and fellow “caffiend” and I were chatting via text.  The subject of our discussion was, of course, credit card debt.   We both recently totaled our debt due to credit card companies and, needless to say, it is not pretty.  However, it is not insurmountable.  In fact, we have promised to continue to remind each other of that fact.  We made a pact to be debt buddy cheerleaders. Our cheer will go something like this:

“Rah rah rah!  Pay down the debt!  Rah rah rah!  You’ll make it yet!” 

I know…I know…I should write cheers for a living. 

All kidding aside, having a debt buddy might be the best thing I can do for myself during this year of frugality.  It’s going to be a tough thing to walk away from buying things I have convinced myself in the past were “necessities” (we’ll discuss necessities in a later blog post).  I have promised to text her when I feel my no-frills shield falling and find myself stroking the leg of a pair of velour pants I just cannot live without.  She’ll text me back the mantra I have adopted for this year (also discussed in a future blog) to remind me of my goal.

I hope you all find your debt buddies.  Even if isn’t someone who is in the same position as you, finding someone you trust who will be there when you are having a hard time telling yourself no will make all the difference in the world.  Let’s chat again soon!

-FG

Little Luxuries

Ok, maybe I am not the best person to give money saving advice.  I'm no Kim Kardashian or Britney (before the meltdown) and I don’t have credit card debt I won’t be able to pay down.  However,  I love my little luxuries.  I love a hot cup of Starbucks, or Revive coffee on a winter morning.  And I always think “I can pay more onto my credit card out of my next paycheck.”   But do I actually pay more?  Generally the answer is no.   This is a cycle that can become overwhelming and, in the end, very expensive.  My new rule?  Allow myself $5.00 a week for coffee.  Whether I decide to use it on Monday morning or wait and use it on the weekend I only get it once.   I figure it will be good for my waistline and my pocketbook (I know, who says “pocketbook” anymore?). 

So there it is my fellow penny-pinchers – my first money saving tip!  It’s important to allow ourselves the little luxuries, but if we can do it with restraint we will be in a better place financially in no time!  Let's talk again soon!

"Frugal-Gal"

So it's the New Year (almost) and my goal is a sizeable one: to create a savings safety net and pay down credit card debt.  I have lived in a “buy now – pay later” mind-set for far too long.  And now I’m paying for it – literally.  I have decided to make 2012 my sacrifice to the money-gods, and I plan on doing this by living as frugally as I can and have decided to share it with ALL OF YOU!  Each week I will update the blog with my money-saving advice and all of my trials and tribulations as “frugal-gal.”

In this adventure I would love to have fellow penny-pinchers along for the ride.  Please feel free to comment and keep me in the loop how your year-of-frugality is going.  Let’s keep each other motivated.  It’s a big task but I know we can do it.  Cheers to 2012 and feeling good about our financial futures!