Rainy Days

I had some things going on today, so didn't get the time to put together an instructional post. However, I wanted to write something, so here goes.

My family is frugal by necessity. My husband brings home about $35,000 per year. That seems like a lot, but when $10,800 right off the top goes to rent, then another $3,840 to car payment and insurance, and $3,360 in other bills that we cannot adjust, we are left with $17,000. Again, this seems like a lot, but when you factor in utilities (gas and electric), car fuel, baby supplies (formula, clothing, toys, etc.), groceries, household supplies, clothing, hair/body care, medical expenses, paying down debt, etc, we're left with about $50 per month in "extra" funds. I have our grocery and household supply expenses, including baby formula, down to under $350 per month. With a garden and more meatless meals, we can bring this down even lower. I'd like to get the adult food portion to under $200 for the entire month- and we're getting very close to being there.

So, while I am finding this journey to frugality fascinating, and kind of empowering, I'm not sure it's something I would have undertaken if I had not been forced to. We both love electronics, gadgets, new clothes, shiny cars, eating out, and day trips. These are things that we choose to keep in our life, but on a much smaller scale than we had been. For me, frugality is not at all about going without. It's adjusting how we spend our money so that we can get the things in life that we want. There are people who are frugal for frugal's sake. They pinch pennies wherever they can, without giving themselves a splurge once in a while. Perhaps their joy or "goodie" comes from the act of saving money. For our family, that's just not the case. We enjoy our nice home, nice cars, and nice things. So we just figure out how to have those things, and make our life as rich as possible, for the least amount of money possible.