A Penny Saved

My husband calls me tight. He means it lovingly but I prefer frugal. He is a spender, money in money out, money out even if it is not in has been his motto until I came along. He is fascinated by how I can save my money, get things cheap or free and have the patience to wait for what I want.

He told me that he has seen few people like me and wondered how my mind works that I can wait and manage to get things like I do. I thought maybe I would try to put it out in writing so that others can see how I do things.

I have never tried to do this before, so this will be something of a challenge to try to write my thinking!

1. We each get a small allowance that is ours to spend as we will. I save mine and plan for what I want to do with it. I almost never just spend it unless we are out of money and a necessity at the same time, then I will use it for household items to get us through. Otherwise I set myself a goal for what I want or need and set the money aside till I can get it.
2. I never pay full price for anything unless it is medicine, milk, bread etc. Everything gets marked down somewhere and eventually you will stumble on it. I was saving for a webcam and figured I would need about $50 for a decent one. When I had saved about $40 I started looking when I was in a place that sold them. On the way home from the hospital my husband stopped at Best Buy and said for me to go in and just see what they had. Well, there was one, regular price $59.95 on clearance for $32.95. I got it! He laughed and said the tight one did it again.
3. For things I do not need to have new I try yard sales, thrift shops and freecycle, all others wait for sales.
4. I have two jars and I put pennies in one and other change in the other. You would be surprised at how fast it can add up.
5. I take peoples stuff. No, not steal, but if someone offers and I can use it I take it. I talk to people that I know come across things and let them know what I am looking for. We needed a bigger table, we found one at a yard sale, but it was still a bit small for all the family when they came. We were in a Good Will store and I saw a small table there. However, I also saw a stack of leaves the same color. I went over to it and found this small table opens up to about 13 feet long and has 5 leaves to make it any size in between! I looked for a price, I found 99.99;59.99 and 29.99 on it and each of the leaves. I asked the person and was told it was 29.99! We took it home! However, we had no chairs for it. I found one at a thrift shop, 3 more like it at a yard sale and one of these people that I let know I needed some found 4 more in a storage shed that she rents out and the people just left there! Again, my husband had some words to say about my being tight!
6. If you set goals you will not waste as much of your money. I say as much because we all find ways to waste some. A good sale but it was not what we needed, that meal out just because we were lazy etc. I know we can still do better on the budget.
7. Set a goal of patience and not buying full price. Play a game with yourself to see how cheap you can get a quality item for without going out of what you can afford. I do this with food as well as other things.
   
8. Be flexible. Give some in what you want and you will find great ways to save money and get what you need.
   

I know I am cheap, tight, frugal at many things, I like it that way and can live without having the most expensive whatever. I am flexible and can live with something that is not exactly what I would buy if money were no option. Then again, the way I am I would probably still never pay full price!

For more frugal ideas see Biblical Womanhood.