Fallen off the savings wagon? Looking for inspiration to keep you on track? Want reminders for why you’re doing all this penny pinching? You’ve come to the right place!
Feel free to share where you are in your money saving journey, share your ups and downs, chat spending/saving goals, share frugal homemaking tips, meal plans, money saving ideas, anti-spending motivation, and favorite frugal living youtubers/bloggers/grammers/authors. Let’s get saving y’all!
I’ll start! I’m AllHat and I have totally fallen off the frugality wagon. For the last two months I have had to transfer money from savings to checking to pay bills, which makes me nervous. Our expenses have increased a lot due to mostly out of our control things, but I think in response to the stress we also started spending more on dumb stuff.
I’m hoping to get back to the “spend nothing” state of mind from now until the end of 2021, at least, because I really want to save more and be able to comfortably cover expenses. I’m getting back into watching some homesteading content since that’s inspiring to me. I also reorganized almost everything in my house and went through all our stuff. I think doing that helps motivate me to save because it shows me how much we already have. My closet is way easier to navigate now too, so added bonus!
Here are some channels I like right now, they aren’t all money related but they’re nice background.
Here! We are actually in the process of increasing some of our spending. Some of it is very intentional and cultivated. My husband just got a new job with a substantial raise, and as part of that we’re rewarding ourselves by hiring some help for cleaning the house. But we’re balancing this with also raising 401(k) contributions. That being said, trying to be frugal with children is hard. And it’s not for the reasons that I thought were obvious before I got here. It’s really hard to know what will and won’t work for her and for house right now. We’re still in the process of setting up the new house after moving last year, and there’s also just a wild card of how quickly kids and their needs change. We also are probably in bound to another round of fertility treatments, which is everyone knows do not come cheap. Anyway, even if I don’t change my spending I really want to be in a place where I’m more mindful about it. And just remind myself why we live the way that we do.
Blame any text weirdness on voice to text. I’m chasing the toddler and can’t focus my eyes well enough without motion sickness to proofread.
Hi, I’m galliver and I have fallen off the frugality wagon in 2021. We are still saving a lot because we have a freaking firehose of income right now. 
Excuses:
Next to all this, indulgence in takeout and ThredUp wants and replacing worn out leggings and spoiling our cats seems like a laughable drop in the bucket, but also this all adds up and we could do much better.
I really need to catch up on my giving pledge so I can see the full impact of my clothes spending (and do some good 
). I’ve also been considering some kind of reward system, using things I will probably buy anyway to motivate myself to hit decluttering and exercise milestones. But I don’t know if I would stick to it…
Is this where I explain that Hannah from YNAB just helped me realize that I have a bad spending habit? I noticed I’ve been buying a ton of new (secondhand) clothes but her recent video helped me put words to it.
I am starting a new job soon and the dress code is business casual, which is like a half-step above where my current job’s dress code is, so I think I might need some new things. But that isn’t what I’ve been buying. I’ve just been buying pretty stuff. I blame Instagram—and the pandemic, which has definitely gotten me into a mindset of more instant gratification than money saving.
OK, you will be my accountability team. Tonight after work I will take advantage of having the house to myself and go through my clothes. I will identify any holes in my work wardrobe and not buy unless I need to fill one of those.
As a fellow sufferer of this affliction, I do think secondhand kind of exacerbates impulsive clothes shopping. You can justify to yourself that an item is cheap, you’re saving it from the landfill, it may not be here tomorrow, and even though it’s not quite right for your needs it’s the best they have (but then you end up still looking for a better option…). And then if it doesn’t work out, returning isn’t a worthwhile option (or an option at all).
It has been beginning clear to me that clothes shopping is my expression of body insecurity… Growing up a slightly chubby kid without a lot of money or a stylish role model (my mom is great but def athletic/tomboy in clothes) , I spent a lot of time self conscious about my looks and outfits. I now have the means to present myself as I wish, so I take advantage… But “as I wish” is rather changeable, so it’s easy for this to turn into a black hole… Particularly since I find my body hard to fit well sometimes, so when I see something I like available and maybe on sale I tend to seize the opportunity.
I think I have been better at reducing very aspirational purchases, where everything I buy is for a purpose: more dresses like X one because I like them at home in the summer. More leggings/sweatpants because I wear them most days for WFH. Hiking pants that are actually water repellent/quick dry for a wet adventure. I’m having an easier time saying no when a niche is filled, I just keep finding ones that aren’t…
I am not entirely sure what to do with all the feelings under the behavior. I don’t think just saying no will fix the underlying drive…
Funny you mention Hannah from YNAB, because I just watched a video of hers that made me realize I’ve been expense tracking and not really budgeting, and that’s where a lot of my issues are coming from 
Also um hi I’m Panda and I was never on the frugality wagon in 2021 
Lots of big, unanticipated “one-time” expenses this year but…those are always going to be around, so I need to be better at prioritization (of both bigger and smaller expenses) and planning
I’m in!
Biggest sticking points right now:
Groceries - transitioning from mostly delivered through 2020 back to in-person shopping and eating from the pantry/garden. Delivery fees are no joke. BUT also it’s the time of year when giant flats of fresh fruit or tomatoes just fall into my grocery cart, so striking a balance.
Travel/going out - like so many, our household has a lot of pent-up demand for adventures, and we don’t currently own a car, so adventures further afield cost more upfront. Need to brainstorm some free/cheap adventure options to balance things out.
WORK: as a theatre artist, I’m starting to get a little work here and there, but currently barely breaking even on my transit/car rental costs. I’ve let my side gig slide a bit over the past month or so and need to get back into the income side of things as well.
Hi, I’m dia. I actually did really well with the expense wagon in 2020/the first half of 2021, but I’m (a) struggling not to spend $$$ as things open back up, especially on restaurants, and (b) I’m moving to a big dense city in a month and am going to be provisioning a new apartment AND living like five feet from a bunch of good eateries in a financially profligate area of town.
Help me to provision an apartment cheaply and not spend a kajillion dollars on Indian food.
ETA: Also, @AllHat, I frickin LOVE Jonna Jinton.
I am here just to say I LOVE Simple Living Alaska…they live my dream (if I didn’t have chronic pain) life, and watching their videos is such a great escape.
I have also fallen off the bandwagon of saving, but mostly for uncontrollable reasons (medical bills, therapy, now school payments) but due to seeing most of my savings goals fly out the window I feel like I have been a little looser with discretionary spending as well. I find myself thinking “it doesn’t really matter because I won’t be saving 40% this year anyway” which is pretty terrible mindset to have. I’m trying to reign it in for the rest of the year and save in the little chunks that I can here and there
Hi, I’m Meowkins, I’m a walking fustercluck and I am here to regain some semblance of order.
I’m moving to a new place and have the tightest budget I’ve ever had while I work full time with a kid in daycare ($$$$) and my husband is in grad school. So my goals are:
I just need to stop buying dumb stuff I don’t need. Here to follow along!
This video was an eye opener for me too.
Desperately need this group! Thus begins the wedding and travel portion of the year. I trimmed our grocery budget down in June, but then it went right back up in July because our co-op is in danger of closing. I guess I thought it would be fun to buy a Dyson the same month I need several plane tickets to out-of-town weddings. Sigh. As always, my main issue is patience!
philosophy I like Ronald Banks
Food, I’m loving June from Delish and her budget week challenges
Thank you for all these recs. It’s so interesting how the more financially-minded my media is, the more financially-minded I am…
I did a light konmari and came up with 6 skirts, 7 shirts, and 4 dresses that I can confidently call business casual and aren’t too heavy for the summer. That’s… 48 possible outfits? I don’t think I have any excuse to buy a lightly damaged (near the hem so I’d probably tuck it in) pink silk shell on Poshmark 
Does anyone have Instagram recs for this mindset? I prefer to keep my video list limited, but I’m always on Instagram. Of course, that’s part of the problem.
46 by my count, if every top matches every skirt.
Not an Instagram, but not-so-protip: I’ve found when I get the urge to shop, sometimes I just need to do laundry because all my favorite /versatile items are dirty.
I’m quite regular about laundry but I did discover a dress I’d forgotten about, so I think that will help!
Hello I’m Darling and never have I ever budgeted, just tracked expenses. Usually this would be fine but somehow my raise makes me feel like there’s literally no point in being frugal. And even two weekend trips in a month add up to $$$.
Anyway I’m tentatively interested in this thread because Mr Darling is getting more and more interested in buying a house, and even though we make ooooooodles of money I don’t really understand how to save a down payment.