Saving money! We all want to do it right? Well, cutting your expenses back is a great way to get in gear to get out of debt. What’s really important is to not throw yourself a pity party while you do it! Who likes being the one that is always whining about what you don’t have or what you can’t have? Not me! Getting your expenses down is important, but if you don’t have the right mindset you are just going to be absolutely miserable and more likely to forget about the big picture!

Ditch the Frugal Pity Party

Ever seen a friend on a diet where they are only allowed to eat carrots and salad or some other ungodly combination? What ends up happening? They end up getting frustrated and giving up and diving into a big box of donuts. That’s what happens when you are too strict on yourself and your budget as well. You want to make changes that are lifetime changes not just a quick fix that you plan to do for a few months and then go back to your old ways.

The easiest way to do this is to embrace the new you. Learn to love being frugal. Think of it as an accomplishment and something to brag about! Think about how you can share  how much you have cut back and stashed in your savings account. Sounds great doesn’t it?!

Know What You Can and Can’t Live Without

To get this party started, make a list of things that you absolutely couldn’t live without. I mean things that if they were gone you would throw a temper tantrum that would make a toddler proud. Be honest, and really put some thought into this list. Next, to this list write of things you think you might be able to live without. If you only watch TV for a few shows, subscribe to a gym  you have never set foot in, or have a Netflix membership but are never home to watch movies, you might want to write them in this list.

After you have gotten these lists together, take a good hard look at them. See which of your “have to have” list items you could probably put in the “live without” column. If you aren’t quite sure, take it for a test run. Live without the item for a week. If you are absolutely miserable at the end of the week, it needs to stay in the “have to have” list. On the other hand, if you hardly missed it at all,  then you can move it over and save even more money.

Here’s my list of things that I have to have: 

• Eating Out Once a Month
• Turkey Hill Ice Cream
• High Speed Internet
• Coffee with Friends on Tuesday nights

Things I could do to make saving money easier:

• Gym Membership ($60/mo)
• Cable TV ($100/mo)
• Getting my hair colored at a salon ($50/mo)
• Paying someone to groom my pets ($50/mo)

Total I could live without: $260/mo or $3120 a year!

To make this even easier, I have made a list of 5 steps to cut your expenses! You may just be shocked that you find that you actually feel like you enjoy your life more not less!

5 Steps to Saving Money

1. Make Your List of Things You Really Enjoy: Be honest with yourself, and write a list of things that would end your world if you didn’t have.

2. Make Your List of Things You Could Do Without: Do you pay for cable, but really only watch a few shows? Have a gym membership you hardly ever use? Find these things, and then right them down!

3. Challenge your “must have” list: Take a second look through your list of “must haves.” Is there anything you can remove? Is there a way to save money on the things that have to stay on the list? Challenge yourself to still find a way to make your favorite things less expensive!

4. Enjoy free activities in your city: Most cities have TONS of FREE activities, you just have to find them. Love going to museums? See if they have a day of the week that is free or discounted.

5. Barter, barter, barter: If you have a friend that is hairstylist, barter for her services! Rather than paying a stranger see if you can cook her dinner in lieu of a new hair cut! Same goes for piano lessons, babysitting, or other expenses. See if you know someone that does what you need and ask if you can do something in exchange for their services!

Just adding up the little things that you could live with out, it really adds up! I don’t even miss it, and I am loving the new frugal me. I have made over $300 disappear from my debt in just 6 weeks!

So challenge, yourself! What can you live without? How can you change to live frugally?

I will be the first to admit that I definitely need to practice what I preach on this Make a Change Monday. I am not a homebody by nature. By becoming more of one though, you can help reduce your carbon footprint AND savemoney!

When my husband lost his job two years ago, we needed to learn to stay home more in order to make ends meet. We didn’t want our kids to really feel the pinch of us staying home, so we had to get creative! We found neat ways to stay home and still have fun. With three kids under the age of 12, we had to figure out something or there may have been a mutiny on our hands.

So here are some tips to live a full life while enjoying staying home more:
1. Gaze at the stars: We would lay out in the middle of our backyard and star gaze on nights during the summer. It was a great way to spend time as a family, and we were teaching our kids astronomy too. For our star gazing nights, we would print out free sheets so the kids could try and find the constellations

Print a free star map at KidsAstronomy.com: You can change the date and time and it will update your map to print

2. Have a family movie night: We did this all the time, we would either watch movies ON Demand for  free or watch one of our own movie collections. The local library is another great way to rent movies for free .

3. Find a hobby that you can do at home that is inexpensive and something you enjoy. I enjoy gardening! This does cost a little bit to get started, but once you have an established garden you can spend your time weeding and pruning your heart out! Here are some of my babies

If gardening isn’t your thing, you could do puzzles, take up walking, reading, whatever might interest you. Become the expert on something you are passionate about and enjoy

4. Become a game connoisseur: This can be playing cards, board games, Wii Games, PlayStation, you name it. We have a family game night once a week. Each week we rotate who gets to pick what we are doing. It’s amazing how many hours of fun something as simple as a .99 cent deck of cards can bring for the whole family, plus the together time builds a great family relationship!

5. Walk around your neighborhood: Get to know your neighbors! This isn’t just great for you to meet them, but it is also great for safety reasons.

It is also really neat to talk a stroll through your town to and see all of the neat local shops, cafes, and maybe even some historical landmarks. Don’t be afraid to be a tourist, it’s great exercise and a great way to know your town

These are just some of the great things we learned while going through a rough time, and even though we are no longer in a rough patch these changes have made a permanent impact on our lives. We still practice all of these today! So Make a Change! Enjoy staying home more and see how much money you can save!