A Drop In My Finacial Evolution

It is amazing the things you think of when you start "pinching pennies." The dry bread that I normally would throw away becomes croutons. The ziploc baggie that I would throw away because it was used once to hold bread is saved to hold bread again someday. The yarn that I bought just because it was on sale comes out from hiding to become dishcloths and coasters and hotpads!

I am amazed at myself. I thought I was being thrifty. I prided myself on good bargains. And yet, I found that I liked the thrill of the bargain so much that I was wasting money by buying things we didn't need.

"I ask myself if I would still want it (even if i couldn’t afford it) at full price. If not, then its probably not something that I will really use or enjoy as much as I want the deal. That helps me a LOT lately with weeding down what I bring home!" Reclaiming the Home

WOW!!! DO I want the item or do I want the deal?

And because I was SO FRUGAL in every other area, when it came to buying groceries, I bought what I wanted, when I wanted, never really looking at the bargain bin except MAYBE for brownies. I mean, really, who pays $3 for a bag of dry crusty bread (i.e. croutons)? LOL!!! I did, but not anymore.

Now I look for those things called MANAGER'S SPECIALS. You know the eggs that are marked down because they are going to go bad in a few days and stuff like that. I am learning about things I can freeze to use later (like did you know you could freeze butter?!?!!) and buying those at HUGE markdowns. But again, having only so much cash to pay for groceries and ONLY that (no more bringing out that credit card just because I want something) has really helped make me much more aware not only of what I am buying, but where my money is going. Not just at the grocery store, but in every store.