2

How I Lost My Frugalness

I used to call myself a Bargain Hunter.  I loved Thrift store shopping (he thinks it’s gross), generic brand anything and the clearance racks and I had a fabulous relationship.  A $25 pair of jeans was a big buy for me. That is until I married my husband.

Being the self employed genius that he is, he has always had the resources to buy the nicer things, and he did.  Jerad didn’t think twice when buying a $80 dollar shirt or pair of jeans, and I would have had a heart attack.  He once told me that why bother buying the cheap version, which you will probably have to replace anyways, when you could buy the nicer one and actually save money in the long run.  Makes sense.

While I was buying generic brand everything, he had the nice shampoos and name brand laundry detergent that didn’t make his clothes fade.  I was like a poor little farm mouse walking into the mansion of the big handsome city mouse.

After we had been married a couple years, I got lazy and he started to rub off on me.

Guilty Confession:  When I walk out of Target, I can rarely tell you how much I just spent.  Scary right?!

Although I didn’t really make any New Year’s Resolutions, I AM going to work on getting back to my frugal roots.

Jerad and I had a long talk and both agree that we don’t like how we have been spending our money.  It’s not that we have been bad at spending our money, we have had a year of blessing, it’s just not how we feel God is calling us to spend.

As of now, we are using generic body wash and can’t even tell the difference!

When It was just the two of us, living the high young married life, it was ok to spend the big bucks on the nicer stuff. But now that we have two little blessings that we call our sons, it’s time to cut back, not only for our wallets sake, but for the sake of our boys characters as well.  I don’t want them growing up and expecting or thinking they are automatically entitled to the nicer things.  Those come with hard work.

Although there is nothing wrong with the nicer things, I know I sure do enjoy them, thats not what life is about.  Sacrificing the name brand toothpaste so we can buy a friend lunch or giving up that stylish outfit so we can tithe a little extra to God that week is where our hearts should be.

Jerad works very hard to keep a roof over our head, and I need to do a better job at making sure I am very much the Proverbs 31 woman and being a good steward with what I am given.

Now I’m not going to jump into extreme couponing, it’s just not for me, or go nuts and sell every nice thing we have on Ebay, but I am cutting back.

As a family we don’t want all our resources tied up in our material possessions or any  debt.  We want it available to bless others, helps those in need and have the freedom to enjoy being a family not stressed out about money.

So Instead of a NY resolution, I’m going to do a Proverbs 31 series, every week journaling and recording my successes and failures as I strive to be a better wife, mother and woman of God.  This should get interesting!

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

 -Matthew 6:19-20

“Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.”

-Proverbs 23:4

 

Comments 2

    1. Post
      Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *