Frugal Confession- We Loved New Cars

We were huge new car fans. We held the theory that since we were going to be paying a car payment for the rest of our lives, why not drive what we want? All of our cars cost about the same amount, but we kept losing equity every time we traded. All we cared about was that monthly payment, but we didn't realize that payments were what were killing us. We only looked at the little picture- month to month, paycheck to paycheck.

It is a sad story- one with lots of great memories of beautiful, fast cars, but it cost us a lot of money. In the last five years we have had six different cars. SIX. Looking back, I can't believe we were so stupid. And as Dave would say, we've paid the stupid tax.

We could have bought our first car in cash and only bought future cars with cash. We would have saved ourselves so much money I don't even want to calculate it. We probably wouldn't have any other debt right now.

These days we are doing our best to change our car buying habits forever. We are trying to sell our current car, which we have paid thousands down on, and buy a cheap used car with cash. We are eager to put this new car-buying nonsense behind us now that we realize that a car is just that, and it's certainly not worth having a payment for the rest of our lives.

Frugal Confession- We Eat Out.

It's a terrible, terrible thing in the personal finance world. Eating out is a budget killer.

We do it. Two or three times a week. Never eating out would be much cheaper but sitting around our favorite table at our favorite deli drinking great tea and only paying $12 for our family to eat- it is just something we love to do. We pay for the great food and the great experience.

In fact, we pretty much eat at the same restaurant two or three times a week. Sadly enough we actually know all of the managers by name and how many kids they have, etc. In our less frugal days we ate out way more often, like 5-6 times per week. Life was busy and we used it as an excuse to eat out. Now that our pace has slowed and we are trying to get out of debt, we make most of our meals at home and try to only eat out a couple of times per week while really looking forward to each of those meals out. Every pay period we budget money for dining out into our grocery category and usually stay within that constraint.

I wouldn't say that we eat out for the food as much as the experience. We love to eat without having to perform work for it. Meals at home are much healthier and usually more filling but often take over two hours to prepare, eat, and clean up. I think that's why we really enjoy eating out- it's quick, relaxing, and enjoyable. It's the only "entertainment" we pay for. It's been a nice outlet for us and it allows us spend a little extra money on this when we are getting low on gazelle intensity.

We've reduced our dining out significantly over the past year, but will we ever get to the point of rarely eating out? It's possible. We hope the Lord blesses us with lots of children so eating out really wouldn't be a very easy or cheap solution for meals. In the mean time we are still enjoying relaxing at our favorite restaurant and adding in the dining out money to our monthly budget.

Frugal Confession- My Parents Were Ultra-Frugal

When I was about 11 years old, my parents were going through some really tough times financially. They were on the beans and macaroni plan before Dave made it popular. Every week, we would have pinto beans and mac and cheese for a couple of dinners.

One night, my mom was making beans and somehow accidentally scorched them. It made the whole house stink. If you have ever burned pinto beans you know that horrid smell I'm talking about.

In an effort to rescue the beans, they took them out of the pot and decided to make my great-grandmother's old recipe of bean patties. I kid you not. So, they took the horridly smelling, awful tasting burnt beans and you guessed it- battered and fried them right up. And we all had to sit down to dinner to eat these greasy brown patties.

It was the single most disgusting food I can ever remember trying to eat. My parents gave us ketchup to put on them, but nothing we tried could make these patties taste better.

Luckily they had a sense of humor about the whole thing and we ate mostly mac and cheese that night. Ever since then, it's been a inside joke in our family.

Most people would have thrown the beans out, but hey, even though we didn't eat them, we have a great family memory. Sometimes the ultra-frugal mishaps can be fun too!

Frugal Confession- The Gazelle has Jumped the Fence

It's confession time once again. And it's a big one.

I am tired of being frugal. Really tired of it.

I don't want to sell our nice car, I don't want to have to price shop for everything. I still want to buy only things that we can afford, but I don't get excited anymore about extra money that goes toward debt. It's more like a sigh, and with a mouse click the money is gone to reduce some number on my computer screen. The luxury and expense of a anniversary cruise won't even fit into the picture of the next three years.

The love, the gazelle intensity- it's dying.

I want to go to Sam's and pick up fruit because its better there, without doing math on how much each orange will cost, and comparing it to see if Walmart is cheaper. I want to buy the fresh bagels, not the day old ones. I don't want to feel guilty about buying bagels in the first place when I could find a way to make them at home.

Can you tell I am tired? :)

Deep down I know that we will have to keep doing the frugal thing- and even when we have no debt, we will still need to be frugal. For us to get to the place where fresh bagels aren't too expensive, we need work hard and get this debt paid off. I know that, and I am sure we will keep it up, I just miss that all-fired-up desire to be gazelle intense. :)

Frugal Confession- I Pay an Extra $4 When Dining Out

When we go out for dinner (which is thankfully far less often than we did in the past!)- we commit the ultimate frugal living sin. We buy soft drinks.

It's almost $4 for two drinks these days. It's awful. We know it. Restaurants don't even put soft drink prices on the menu anymore- maybe they are ashamed that they are ripping people off. :)

I have to say, we have improved significantly in the restaurant soft-drink arena. We probably buy soft drinks only half of the times we go out for dinner now. It's just so hard to drink water for some reason. Dr. Pepper is linked with dining pleasure, a special treat, like dining out, while tap water is linked with cheapness and often tastes bad to me.

Sometimes I prefer water over soda but usually it's a conscious decision to save money that keeps me drinking water with lemon. We haven't gone to full-time restaurant water drinking yet. Maybe we will get there soon. We will definitely save more money when we do.

Frugal Confession- I Love Expensive Makeup

I have to confess- I am in love with department store makeup. It all started after my first semester in college. I had just finished finals, and my roommates and I decided to reward ourselves with a makeover at Dillard's.

I had never even thought to buy makeup at one of those expensive-looking counters. But a free makeover sounded like fun. I had always used drugstore makeup and was never really happy with it, but after wasting tons of money trying other inexpensive kinds I gave up and stuck with the cheapest stuff I could buy.

Until I got my makeover. I went to the Clinique section, got my makeover and was a convert. Never had I known that makeup could feel light and soft! I bought the foundation and eyeliner, at $20 and $14 respectively. I have been a consistent buyer ever since, spending $35 about every 6 weeks on makeup of all things.

I used to think that just because I could buy four $5 foundations for the same price, I was overpaying. And so, when funds were low, I would go back and try to spend $5 on foundation. I would wear it for a few days and then end up buying the $20 foundation because it was so much better, effectively wasting my $5 on the cheap stuff. I used to have the mindset that quantity equals quality. But I think I have found something un-frugal that is higher quality that makes my life better and easier.

Occasionally I will find a good brand at the drug store when I am doing my almost free CVS shopping, but I tend to go back to Clinique over and over again. I haven't changed my ways yet. And I am not sure I can.

My name is Mandy, and I am a Clinique addict.

Frugal Confession- I Hate Kids Meals

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to McDonald's and getting a Happy Meal with a special magic doll as a toy. I remember the special box with arches for handles. I loved getting a Happy Meal.

I guess that's why I feel really cheap when I won't buy my own kids a Happy Meal. It's ridiculously expensive. I can't bring myself to pay for two kids meals at McDonald's or anywhere else. Since we have two boys, rather than buying a kids meal for each of them, we often buy larger portioned individual items and split them, or they share with me.

The price of kids meals at sit-down restaurants are usually $3.99 and up, and we save a lot of money by buying side dishes and sharing. It's the McDonald's kids meals I feel bad about. We spend $3 to feed both boys when we go there, which isn't very often. Kids meals would cost us $6. I just wonder if maybe I am being too cheap and I should splurge now and then and go for the kids meal so it's a special treat, and they have memories like I did of the Happy Meal. Or maybe I could just pull out an old toy they don't remember after we go to McDonald's instead... :)

Do you have any Frugal Confessions? Please share them with us- just leave a comment or post about it on your blog and use Mr. Linky to leave your link! Find out more about Frugal Confessions Thursday here.

Frugal Confession- We Walked Out of a Restaurant

There was a new restaurant in town- very chic and was said to have decent prices. We decided to give it a try. We walked in and were seated by the hostess. We picked up the menus and started looking.

The server had yet to greet us, but as I was looking at the menu, absolutely nothing sounded good. Especially for the $10+ per plate. If there is anything I hate spending money on, it's food I don't even like. Not only do I have nothing to show for my money, I don't even enjoy the food.

So on this day, I was thankful the server hadn't greeted us yet. I asked my husband if he liked anything and he hadn't found anything, so I asked if we could leave, because I didn't want to spend that much money eating out when nothing even sounded good.

He was okay with us leaving, which is actually amazing because he is much more easily embarrassed than I about these kinds of things. We got up and told the hostess we had changed our minds and gave back our menus.

Were we too cheap? I'm not sure- I think it may be borderline. Maybe next time a new restaurant comes into town we will ask to see the menu before being seated. :)

Do you have any Frugal Confessions? Please share them with us- just leave a comment or post about it on your blog and use Mr. Linky to leave your link! Find out more about Frugal Confessions Thursday here.

Frugal Confession- I Didn't Price Shop

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to Big Lots to buy a few Christmas gifts. As I was browsing, I found several good clearance deals on toys, and it didn't take long to load up the cart. I was in "spending mode" and ready to get a few bargains.

I saw tucked away in a corner a specialty fire box that we had been wanting to get for a long time for $22- a bargain. I thought about it for a while, and called my husband to see if he was okay with it. He was, and so I went ahead and bought it.

I had a general idea of what these fire-proof boxes cost, and in my mind they were usually $30+. I didn't check on what the price was for that box specifically before I bought it. That's why I felt really stupid when I saw the box at Walmart for $17. I overpaid $5 from Walmart's price! I will go to trouble to fill out a much-hated rebate for $5- it's a lot of money to me! $5 is an entire meal at home with leftovers, or even 1/2 of the cost of dinner out with the family!

It was a rookie mistake- I should have at least checked the price on my phone before I bought it. I lost $5 because I was just too busy getting all these clearance deals with three children and I "thought" it was a good deal. I learned- never buy the first thing you look at with out doing some research. Or at least look at Walmart first.

Do you have any Frugal Confessions? Please share them with us- just leave a comment or post about it on your blog and use Mr. Linky to leave your link! Find out more about Frugal Confessions Thursday here.

Frugal Confession- I am a Bag Lady

I love bags. Some people collect shoes, but I collect bags. I have loved and bought purses, computer bags, totes, diaper bags, beach bags- every kind of bag one could imagine. I gave away a ton of bags in April at our garage sale and then donated the rest to Goodwill. I thought with my new more frugal attitude that I would realize the silliness of the bag obsession and be done with it.

I cleaned out a closet the other day, and to my dismay I found that I had been collecting bags again. Straw totes- oh- it's pink- only $2.50? Wow I have to get it! I have a brown leather purse, but I need a black tote sized one- in leather- only $18! and I have a gift card to help out!


It's a disease. I love bags. I would like to think I have gotten better, but the only thing I do differently now is that my bags have to be on clearance or a great deal.

I have got to change this habit. This bag addiction has done no good. Wait- maybe if there was a natural disaster- we would be able to carry out all of our belongings... Yeah. I know. It's no good. I know I have a problem, and that is always the first step to overcoming it.

Do you have any Frugal Confessions? Please share them with us- just leave a comment or post about it on your blog and use Mr. Linky to leave your link!

Frugal Confessions Thursday

We all have them- times when we were too cheap, times when we made poor financial decisions, and times when we were too extravagant. I have made many non-frugal and ultra-frugal decisions in the past and I want to share my mistakes with you! (I know, there might not be enough hosting space on Blogger! ;)

We are only human. No matter how hard we try, we will never stop making mistakes. Thankfully, our Lord is so forgiving, and His blood has covered our sins and mistakes. Through Him, we can get over ourselves, ask for and accept His forgiveness, stop feeling guilty about the past and go on to share what He has taught us. Sometimes we just need to let our guards down so that others can see where we've been and how we learned from our mistakes. I know that for me, the process is also cathartic- it helps me to let go of all those mistakes by sharing them.

That's why I am going to host Frugal Confessions on Thursdays- I am still in the process of learning how to be more frugal, and I am so relieved and encouraged when I read that someone else is like me and trying to do better with their finances. So starting next week, I will be posting a frugal confession each Thursday.

If you have any frugal confessions you'd like to get off your chest, please share them with us starting next week! You will be able to post them in the comments or on your blog and leave a link in the comments (I hope to have a linking system or carnival entry soon!).