I’ve been living frugally for a good six or seven months now, and have discovered that although it’s nice watching my debts go down and the wedding fund grow, there are still days where I just hate being frugal. Sometimes I want to go and spend money till I’m blue in the face and buy those shoes I’ve been coveting, and that handbag that I just know would change my life for the better (hee). The hardest bit has been our decision to forgo our summer vacation until the autumn, so that we can avoid the high season prices. Yes, that means a trip to France in the autumn when the leaves will be turning and beautiful; but it also means I won’t see the sun again until I arrive in Sydney in February for our wedding. Gulp.   

While it’s been hard to keep at it day in and day out, there are some things that I have found really keep me going:

Keep your eye on the goal. I keep visual stimulation of my goals all over the place, such as a picture of the honeymoon destination on the fridge.

Material is not always best. I used to get such a high when I went shopping and came home with bagfuls of clothes and shoes. Now, I’ve learnt to find satisfaction and enjoyment in things that have nothing to do with spending money. For example I have learnt to cook properly, which is something I used to hate, but now find relaxing and really enjoyable – and I now love cooking a good meal for friends rather than needing to be at the trendiest restaurant.  I’ve also retrained my brain into really appreciating small treats that I give myself, such as a massage or a pretty but inexpensive scarf. I have reprogrammed my brain to understand that expensive is not always best.

Staying motivated is key. I read personal finance blogs every single day – not just for the tips and ideas, but because it reminds me that there are lots of other people out there with similar goals, and allows me to stay in contact with like-minded people. It’s like a virtual support network.

Use your new frugal ways to overhaul your entire life. Once I realised all the ways I was throwing money away unnecessarily, it also helped me to see that I was cluttering up my house and life with a bunch of stuff that I didn’t need. Being frugal goes hand-in-hand with being organised in my eyes. I have thrown out and sold so much junk from my house over the past months, and it actually made me feel lighter and less weighed down. Try it and you’ll see.

Don’t beat yourself up. If I have a blow-out and overspend on the weekend, I’ve learnt to accept that it doesn’t really matter, (as long as it’s not every weekend, of course).  It just means I have to start again the next day, climb back onto the frugal wagon and do the best I can. It’s like trying to lose weight – if you give up every time you give in to a chocolate craving, you’d never get anywhere. At the end of the day it’s only money, and it comes into your life and goes out of it, but a small blow-out is not the end of the world.

All in all I think that this time I’ve spent being frugal over the past months has been invaluable in terms of the things I have learnt about myself and my relationship with money. 

And I’d love to hear any tidbits of wisdom you’ve discovered on your frugal journeys…