Apr 4, 2011

Re-committing to Frugality

I'm finally feeling mostly back to normal, as this bout with the flu really knocked me off my game. I only left the house three times in four days, and for short periods of time at that. My inability to shop, cook, clean or do any of the things I normally do meant that we spent a decent chunk of change, especially on eating out.

The truth?

It was nice not worrying about spending money and just buying things without really thinking too hard about it. Even with the steep reduction in income resulting from my career change, we still have a fair amount of discretionary income.

But what we don't have is financial independence and total financial security - we would love to be able to have an expensive private school as an option, as things with LAUSD are going downhill fast and the public middle and high schools in particular are looking more and more unattractive.

So I posted my menu plan for this week earlier today, I've restocked the fridge, and I'm planning my drugstore shopping for the rest of the week. I'm re-committing to the frugal lifestyle that we've chosen, and to banking more money than we spend.

Committing to a responsible financial lifestyle is important - life is less stressful when you live below your means and have money in the bank. But it's equally important to re-commit, so you stay on the path you want to be on - the path that leads to financial success.

2 comments:

Amber said...

Well stated!

Camille said...

I concur! This past week my husband was out of town for 4 days leaving me home alone with the kids. I knew that cooking and cleaning at my normal rate was out of the question. We set a budget so that I could buy more ready-made food and eat out. And we came in UNDER budget! But it was nice not to have to worry about cooking -- I didn't run the dishwasher once! LOL But now we're back to "normal" and frugal this week.p