Something that’s become sort of a dirty world lately is “Frugal.” What exactly does it mean to live frugally? Wiktionary defines it as “Avoiding unnecessary expenditure either of money or of anything else which is to be used or consumed; avoiding waste.” So much of what we do today is wasteful. When I say “frugal” I’m not talking about throwing away everything you own, that would be even more wasteful! In a nutshell, being frugal is making the most of what you already have, so that you don’t need to buy more.
One of the blogs I’ve stumbled on recently is Frugally Sustainable. I can identify with much of what Andrea writes, as it echoes my sentiments almost exactly. She’s started something called the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge, and it’s quite a challenge indeed! Start with Day 1, and go from there.
I’m going to be going through this, but not because I think I have to. I want to find out if I can reclaim more of my productivity and time by being even more frugal. I already know I’m doing some of the things on Andrea’s blog, but I’ll spend some time reflecting on each one. Think of it as a journey I’m sharing with you to see just how much excess baggage my life has accumulated over the last few years.
Since there’s no better time than now, I’ll kick things off with Day 1: Redifining Frugality. One quote that stood out to me is this:
Our level of frugality should never be measured by our ability to shop a sale, or use coupons, or penny-pinch. No, frugal living is found in the enjoyment of what we already have.
I’m surrounded by people who love to “shop sales” and use coupons religiously. Saving money doesn’t bother me, but oftentimes this results in buying things we didn’t actually need in the first place. I don’t like buying stuff I don’t need.
One of the goals of Andrea’s blog is to guide each person down the road to evaluating their own lives, setting goals, changing perspectives, and making changes. I’m going to say my goal for today is to try to identify areas in my life that I know could use work. I’m not going to think of everything, I know it will take some time, but here’s what I know needs work in my life:
- Reducing how much I waste
- Sharing more things with others
- Being a good steward of my time (I never was good at this)
- Reducing things that are unused and taking up space
- Taking care of needs quickly so that I will have time to do things I really want to do
I don’t expect anybody else to do what I do, but if you are inspired by Andrea’s blog and feel like you could use a little more frugality, then by all means, follow along! Post up your thoughts, let both of us know what you’re doing. Part of the process is sharing your thoughts, which helps to 1. keep you accountable, and 2. help you to see your thinking from an external perspective.
Just a quick note: I’m not associated with Andrea Muse, or the Frugally Sustainable website. I just want to document my own process using the guidelines she’s laid out, nothing more. I’m sure along the way things will come up that we may differ on, but this is a learning process, so I welcome those things.