Changing Your Thinking

I have noticed that since I started down this whole frugal path that my way of thinking has really changed. Now anyone that knows me knows that I am really low maintenance. I hate spending money. I hate the mall. I just don't spend much money, especially on myself. My husband tells me to please go out and spend money on myself (seriously!) and I still don't do it. For HIS birthday he bought ME new gym shoes because the ones I had were like 10 years old and grass stained from mowing the lawn. So I have always tried to be frugal but I have found that this way of doing things is completely different then just picking the lowest price item at the grocery store or trying to make do with what you have. This is really about planning and patience. I have found that there are so many things out there (not just food and toiletries) that you can get for cheap, free or even make a profit on. I find that now when I want or even need something new my first thought is "I can wait, something will come along for that soon enough." Like, I need new sunglasses. The cheap ones that I have still work but my boys think things like that are toys and they have stretched and bent them out of shape and really need to be replaced if I want them to stay on my face. But instead of going out and getting another cheap pair I am just waiting until I can find a deal on them, or a deal where I can get a certain $ amount with some online code or something like that. I get frustrated with my husband when he gets a snack at the gas station or stops at the grocery store on the way home and gets something (and PAYS FULL PRICE FOR IT). I keep having to remind him "If you want something, just tell me and I will get it for you for FREE!"

And as you can see from my last post. Just getting things for free isn't the final goal. Now I want MONEYMAKERS!