When I’ve given speeches at community groups, I’m often surprised to hear, “This sounds like a lot of work.”
It’s hard to know what to say to this. Do I say:
– “But it’s worth it.”
– “Not really”
or even,
– “Maybe a little work, but it focuses your mind on saving instead of spending”
None of these approach the truth. Saving money isn’t easy or hard….it’s a complete mindset change.
Finding Opportunity Where You Don’t Expect
As I wrote in Can’t Save? Write it Out, Bitches!, often, we don’t look hard enough for opportunities. I took a quick trip to the store yesterday for bread and ketchup to work on my famous sloppy joes (well, not yet famous, but I’ve not given up). Without thinking, I jumped in the car and paid full-on retail for both of these items.
In today’s world, with my iPad sitting on the counter, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a coupon. In fact, a look this morning (that took less than three minutes) found me $.50 off the bread I purchased and $.25 off the ketchup. Lots of savings? No, but by changing my mindset and doing this all the time, I can find tons of opportunities, no matter where I am.
– Saving on insurance with comparison sites
– Saving on airfare and hotels with online discounters
– Saving on food with Tesco vouchers
– Saving on restaurants with newspaper coupons
It’s easy to find ways to save, but instead of just grabbing the keys and leaving home, you need to take a few minutes.
It isn’t frugal as much as it’s smart
I’ll be the first to tell you that I have no interest in saving $.75 on bread and ketchup. However, if it’s the same ketchup and bread, the same hotel room, the same airline, and I don’t have to take significant time to find the deal…that’s not about saving $.75. It’s about learning to treat money with respect.
So, the next time you grab the keys to head to the store, think for a moment. Could I look for deals online? Could I find aggregator sites that would help me get this done better/cheaper/quicker (or all three at the same time?). Could I be saving daily with discount codes, coupons and deals for the same stuff I was going to buy anyway? Better yet, could this be the Roth IRA contribution you weren’t able to make this year because you “didn’t have any money?”
Photo: Saad Faruque
I couldn’t agree more! Saving money is a mindset. We have a lot of friends and family who laugh at the fact that we coupon but we literally purchase a year or two worth of soaps, shampoos, or deodorants for pennies on the dollar. It adds up over time.
I agree it’s about “learning to treat money with respect”. It may not seem like alot at the time but $0.50 here and $0.75 all adds up over time and it’s money we could save. It takes hardly any time at all and most times savings are right in front of our face or are mailed to us in magazines, door advert hangers, newspapers and of course online. Once you are in that mindset nothing will hold you back and watch the savings come in! P.S Mr.CBB’s Famous Sloppy Joes RULE!! 🙂
Stop posting Sloppy Joe comments unless you’re going to invite me over for a plate of them, Mr. CBB (of course, it doesn’t help that I read your comment EXACTLY at lunch time).
As you said, it is a new mindset. It is adapting and changing too. A few years ago, I started using the internet for discounts in a big way for such mundane things as magazine subscriptions. You are giving me some more reasons to get a smartphone.
I was listening to the Marketing Over Coffee podcast during my run today and after all of the smartphone apps they discuss to help with staying alert and informed about blog topics, there are a ton of reasons, KC.
I absolutely agree! In fact my post today about Angie’s List is a similar topic – now more than ever there is information available that can help you save lots of money and “stretch” your dollars so they can go further than if you simply accepted the listed price of products and services.
The last thing you should do, I think, is just accept that the price isn’t negotiable or better somewhere elese.
So true, Joe! It IS a mindset and paradigm shift. Most people don’t like change, even when it is for their benefit. I like to think of it as a game where I get extra points for every savings I make happen. I don’t feel deprived, I feel smart, in that scenario.
It’s like cooking. Many people think it’s simply following a recipe. That’s true, but learning all the tricks of making healthy, frugal food that everyone really likes is a complex skill. Fortunately, like taking charge of your finances, it can be learned a little at a time.
Frugal is the new smart! And smart is the new rich!
I love your cooking analogy, Maggie. Great chefs know how to make it look so, so easy. Even if I don’t have as easy a time, it certainly is a destresser (real word?) to cook well or to find a corner to cut with my money.
I agree with you about needing a mindset change. I know for me, when I used to be an emotional shopper, the number one thing that helped me change my behavior, was changing how I dealt with “bad days”. Otherwise, nothing would’ve worked.
Great points here, Joe. It’s totally a mindset thing. The other thing I’ve learned is that every dime really does add up and can make the difference between failure and success. Hope you’ll share that sloppy joe recipe when it’s ready – we have our own “famous” recipe here at the Frugal Farmer house. 🙂