New Years Resolutions...

If it is only one thing Andy’s family is notorious for, it would be frugality. The definition of which means: the quality of being frugal; prudent economy; thrift; a sparing use; sparingness. Yep, pretty much Andy and the rest of his clan to a tee. Let me give you a couple of examples of how this pans out in everyday life in our household.

When Andy is finished with his dinner his plate is so clean, it barely needs to be washed. Waste not. Meanwhile, he asks me if I want the few errant pieces of lettuce in my salad bowl “doggie bagged”.

We keep our house at 60 degrees in the winter months to save on our heating bill. However, we do raise it to 64 when we are going to be around all day (weekends) or when we have company over. Believe it or not, this is an improvement from past years. Last year we kept it at 55 degrees and lived under heated blankets when we were home. Normally, I wouldn’t have stood for this, as I am convinced that I am cold-blooded, but we turned it into a contest and we were both too proud and cocky (not to mention that there was a very good chance our brain cells were too cold to function properly) to cave.

In our cars, our “Kleenex” is actually fast food napkins (which, of course, are FREE).

80% of all of our grocery shopping is done at ALDI. Hey, no complaints here as you can walk out of that store $30 later with a weeks worth of groceries!

Okay, so you get the gist. Since marriage catapulted me into the family fold, I have embraced the world of frugality as much as I can, although there are times that I feel I have much to learn. Most of the time, however, I enjoy the challenges and rewards (extra $ for mortgage payments, being blessed with a healthy savings account, etc.) that frugality brings.

Enter the 2009 New Year’s Resolutions. Andy and I each have our weaknesses. For me, it would have to be shopping, the “girly kind” and buying clothes I don’t need (seriously, my closet is PACKED!) and beauty products that, again, I don’t “need” but am always a sucker for. For Andy, it is a DVD obsession. I mean, I can understand his desire to acquire more DVDs seeing we only have about 300 currently in our collection (please note sarcastic tone:)).

So, beginning 2009 we are going to set monetary constraints on our “weaknesses”. For me, that means a $500 Annual Clothing and Beauty Budget to cover haircuts, clothes, make-up, and any other “vanity” type products. Gulp. It is only January 14 and I already only have just over $400 left after a haircut ($50), a sweater ($20), and some Bare Essentials Blush ($18). For Andy that means a $350 DVD/Entertainment budget. It is only January 14 and I think Andy only has about $200 left. Confidently, he claims that it is “all good” because starting in April we will be spending most evening building a plane so he is “front loading” his expenditures.

But, what can we both say…we love a challenge, especially a “frugal-friendly” one!