Frugality is fun!!

My very favorite book on frugality is the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. I first checked it out of the library when i was just begining my frugal path. I thought many of her ideas were crazy, but after a while a lot of them made sense to me. One of my favorite ideas from her book is there is a world of difference between feeling like you are frugal because you chose to be so, and being frugal because you feel you have to be so.

My husband and i were pushed into frugality when i became unable to work. We went from two full time paychecks (and still feeling like there wasn't enough money) to having to 'make do' with one. At first i felt deprived for not being able to buy what we wanted, do what we wanted and have whatever we wanted right away. That's the way we had been living and we had the debt to prove it. Don't have the cash? That's what credit cards are for! Even with two paychecks we didn't feel like we had any money because it was always spent, dvds, restaurant meals, weekend trips, clothes, electronics. Whatever we wanted, we bought. Then i read a book about how Amy enjoys wearing socks with holes because she wants to see how long they last??? Socks with holes? How people can enjoy going without? That's crazy! How they go to 'extreme' lengths to save a small amount of money? But i kept reading and little by little the ideas made an impression on me. I found that i too could enjoy making due with what I had/ could acquire cheaply. That with a gradual change of heart i could have fun being frugal. And i do, lots of fun. Okay so maybe i don't enjoy clipping coupons, organizing them and matching them with sale prices. But i do enjoy watching my total go down at the checkout counter. I thoroughly enjoy paying $13 for $27 worth of animal supplies. I enjoy finding my husband aftershave that he's been eyeing for weeks for .99 instead of $5. I enjoy making Monster a huge quality dog bed out of filler and material i already had thats so comfortable my husband wanted to steal it for himself! Frugality is fun, you just have to make it fun in your mind.