Tell us Tuesday is a weekly question and answer feature… I throw out a question on a frugal topic, and you answer! Feel free to leave any links to posts that you’ve written in the topic in your comments.
Without my friends and support networks, I’d have a hard time being frugal. Either by watching them live with the same money struggles as me, or having them to look up to, I find my friends to be an incredible sense of support as I move along my frugal journey. Concretely? I borrow and lend lots of books with a few friends, and almost all of my kids’ clothes come from some friends and go to others.
How do your friends help you to be frugal?
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{ 5 comments }
It’s not so much that my friends and I share items to be frugal (save for some book lending here and there), so much as many of my friends cause me to stop and think. Many of them are still students or have taken on the lesser paying jobs like nurses or teachers and have no choice but to be more careful, whereas my husband and I are technically doing ok, but it helps to have to think that other people are getting by without x to rein myself in from impulse purchases and stay on budget.
I think it helps that I’m comfortable with my friends. I don’t feel strange suggesting that we go to happy hour when the food is half priced or pulling a coupon out of my purse when it’s time to pay. If I felt the need to keep up with the Joneses all the time, it would be tough to socialize with my friends.
.-= Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog´s last blog ..Boxaholic =-.
We have this friend who is the queen of shopping. She has an ultra organized coupon book that should be pattented. She also does a lot of yard sales, Craigs List, Ebay, and the like. One of her best phrases when yard sailing she uses to get the price she is asking, is “it is worth every penny you are asking, but not to me…call me if you decide to sell for …” great line.
.-= Adam´s last blog ..Can You Sell Ads on a Twitter Account? =-.
Well, to be honest I think my friends influence me in good ways in bad ways. The bad ways are that some of them are not frugal and end up spending their money on things that I would really like to have myself which makes me discontent.
But the good side of it is when I hear of another friend talking about saving his/her money and not being able to afford something because they are sticking to their budget. These are the type of friends who indirectly challenge me to do better with my own finances.
Many of my friends have been very supportive of our efforts to save money. They will come over for a home cooked meal instead of eating out, for example. Having friends that are willing to be your friends even when you don’t want to participate in expensive activities is a great resource. And some of our friends even helped us rethink our budget for living in France (those who had been here these last years and knew more about the cost of living than we did.) I’ve also got friends that I can exchange ideas with–recipes, cutting back on new stuff, etc.
I think it would also be worth mentioning family because family can also be a huge help or hindrance to the frugal lifestyle.
.-= Simple in France´s last blog ..Leeks, fennel and adapting to global change: dark days challenge week 11. =-.