Frugal by necessity.

Every so often I go over our budget to make sure things are working as they should. I like numbers and lists so I don't mind it a bit. I have never been a spendthrift which has been a blessing to our family. As soon as I had a job after university, I saved and saved. I didn't even take a holiday for the first few years of my working life. Thankfully I loved my job so it was no hardship. Back in those days, I was frugal by choice. Nowadays we live a frugal lifestyle by necessity. I am trying ever so hard to put a stop to any small leaks which might sink our ship.

I have been having a look at the thrifty tips  that Kate has been blogging about this month and consequently thinking about money saving ideas. I think most people can relate to having to economize especially in the current financial environment. I have cut out unnecessary spending (obviously not completely, I still have Internet at home) and we do our best to reduce our costs. I menu plan right down to what I will be baking for the week, turn off appliances at the  switch. There truly is a limit to how low expenses can go though. Council rates need to be paid, utilities, insurance for cars, home and farm, animals need to be cared for. The only item on our budget that is a non-essential (besides the Internet) is gift giving and that has been reduced too. Hanging out on a farm all day doesn't require a high-end wardrobe and thankfully our tastes are fairly simple. Last years "town" clothes become this years farm clothes.

From experience I have found that it is good to have a specific goal in mind if you are saving. Throughout our marriage we have just been saving for the future without any real aim in mind. It was a good thing, it gave us the opportunity to set our son up in the city for his studies.Which is good for him now, the girls too if they decide to move to Sydney too for study or just to live. Now however I am thinking about saving with a more concrete goal in mind for mine and Tim's future. At the moment the savings dream is just that and the goal is going to have to be reached slowly but it will be worth the effort I'm sure. I'm saving only cents at a time, not big bucks but I am motivated.

Now that was serious and I would like to talk a bit more about frugallity a bit more some other time. Right now though, I have chores and must sign off.

Before signing off though here is the photo for June 11th. Topic: Door. This is a little cupboard that hangs in my dining room and the door is more interesting than my front door. I painted it a few years back when I was going through a folk art phase. I still have all of the paints but just not the inclination to use them (Grace and Hope use them so they aren't going to waste).
Tracy