The ABCs of Creative Frugality

For all those frugal people out there, this one's for you. I came across this small post based on Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette book series that was quite enjoyable. She once wrote that tightwaddery, her term for being frugal, without creativity is deprivation. Boy did she nail it.

The post continued, that when frugality "frugality is simply a matter of what you can't do or can't have, it becomes a burden and a source of resentment." You can make it fun. however, by "creatively replacing expenditures with low-cost alternatives."

Frugality, The Game
The object: to see how little you can spend to get the same results.
The winner: the one who can get the most enjoyment while spending the least amount of his/her family's hard-earned cash.

Are you game?

Here are some tips, Dacyczyn's ABC's:
Adaptability and Adventurous. Make do with what you have until another option comes along. Any family that has had to make it on one income knows that it is quite an adventure.

Care and Consideration. The most precious things in life are the intangibles that can't be bought or sold. Cutting back should never include little acts of kindness that bring happiness and joy to those you love.

Economical. Look for out-of-the-ordinary ways to eliminate waste and get the most out of every dollar.

Individualism, Ingenuity, and Investing. Develop money habits that are good for your family. These may go against what culture deems "good". Look for ways to get all you can out of every dollar. Put those saved dollars to work for you.

Resourcefulness. Fully examine available optios before spending money mindlessly.

Teamwork, Time Management, and Trade-Offs. Frugality works best when everyone works together. Thrifty people budget their time as wisely as their money. Sacrifice less important things for those of higher value.

Value and Vigilance. Refuse to get less than full value for time and money you invest in any purchase. Persistence is a slow process with great rewards.

You and Yesterday. Decide what is valuable to you. This will determine your goals and will make what others think irrelevent. Forget the mistakes of the past and use them to move forward.