Enjoying Life with Less

I come from a long line of penny pinchers. The generation my parent’s grew up in gave them no choice, but to learn to use things until their purpose was used up and needed to be repurposed. For example, once a towel could no longer be used at bath time it became a rag used for washing or drying the car. An old sock that could longer be mended would be reused to dust, well I think you get the picture, they recycled before it was trendy and they didn’t do it to save the environment, but to save their pocketbook.

As a Single mother living a frugal lifestyle does not mean I have to sacrifice quality of life, but rather redefine it from what the rest of society or our current popular culture dictates that to be. I do have to make compromises with labels, but sometimes if you’re a savvy shopper that doesn’t necessarily imply compromising quality. A tube of toothpaste at the 99 cent store can still be a name brand, Ranch Dressing, Bread and pasta don’t vary that much.

When I do treat my daughter to a fast food meal, I don’t feel obligated to get the Child’s meal, I order the Chicken Tenders or a burger she likes and we come home and eat it accompanied with juice from the refrigerator and a healthier side than we would have gotten. My daughter is use to this and doesn’t fuss, that doesn’t mean she never eats a complete child’s meal, It’s just that sometimes you’re going for the convenience of not preparing something at home and in those cases I normally have juice and a side dish that can quickly be warmed up.

This back to School, I was determined to not play into the concept that I had to buy my daughter a whole new fall wardrobe, or even a complete outfit from head to toe, or even a long list of School supplies and new backback. We went to the thrift store where she found a beautiful Dress for I believe it was $5.00 that was new to her, I cleaned up her perfectly good backcback and splurged on a new pair of shoes at my local discount store for $12.00, since all she had were summer sandals and flip flops. So to her she was starting the school year with a new outfit and she was perfectly happy.

I hope to share many more day to day frugal lifestyle stories, some you may adapt, some you may already be doing and some you may think are too much trouble to bother with, but either way I hope you will stop by and visit occasionally and let me know you dropped by.